Lancaster and Morecambe care homes: Covid-19 and flu jabs offered to every resident

Care homes were prioritised for vaccine visits to ensure those most at risk of serious illness and hospitalisation from the viruses had their life-saving protection ahead of winter.

NHS teams visited 1,782 homes with more than 44,000 eligible residents in the North West between September and early November.

Dr Linda Charles-Ozuzu, Regional Director of Commissioning and senior responsible officer for the vaccination programme, NHS England – North West, said: "“Care home residents are some of our most vulnerable people, so it’s great news that all these groups have had the opportunity to get vaccinated and winter-ready.

“It’s a testament to the hard work of our roving vaccination teams that we have completed care home visits and it means that residents, as well as their families, carers and communities, can go into this winter knowing they are safe and protected.”

More than 1.3 million eligible people in the region been vaccinated so far against Covid since the start of this year’s campaign, and around 1.8 million people have been vaccinated against flu.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the North West are eligible for the latest Covid-19 top up – including all aged 65 and over, pregnant women, those with an underlying health condition and frontline health and social care staff.

With hundreds of locations offering vaccinations across the North West, there is still time for people to come forward for their vaccinations and ensure they’re protected in time for celebrating Christmas and New Year with family and friends.

A number of sites, including community pharmacies, may also offer walk-in appointments.

The last date to book a Covid vaccine on the National Booking Service (NBS) will be Thursday December 14.

This year’s adult covid and flu vaccination programme was brought forward based on the latest expert advice following the emergence of a new covid variant, to ensure that all eligible people across London had the opportunity to get their vaccinations before winter.

Last year, the NHS faced the ‘twindemic’ of flu and covid with high occupancy in hospitals and record pressure on staff and plans for this winter are already underway. The latest data shows from the UK Health Security Agency reveals that last year’s vaccine prevented around 25,000 hospitalisations in England.

In the North West to date, the NHS and its partners have delivered more than 19.5 million doses of the vaccine, as part of the biggest and fastest vaccination programme in NHS history.

All eligible adults can book their flu and COVID-19 vaccinations by visiting https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/seasonal-health/keep-warm-keep-well/?wt.mc_id=eva1_224_AW_marketing, on the NHS App or by calling 119.