31 December 2020

Dear colleagues,

As 2020 comes to an end we are at a critical point in the pandemic and it is therefore imperative that we prioritise the first doses of vaccine for as many people as possible on the priority list.

This will protect the greatest number of at-risk people overall in the shortest possible time and will have the greatest impact on reducing mortality, severe disease and hospitalisations and in protecting the NHS and equivalent health services.

Today the UK Chief Medical Officers have published a letter clearly outlining their support for this strategy.

Additionally, the JCVI and PHE have published details on the effectiveness of a single dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.

We recognise that the request to re-schedule second appointments is operationally very difficult, especially at short notice. We have written to CCGs to outline a package of support to help you do this.

We have made an additional £1,000 available to the first wave PCNs to support with administrative costs in rescheduling appointments and free support is also available from a CSU, via your CCG who have stood up a call centre which can be used to contact patients to reschedule vaccinations.

A patient letter and script have been produced to support you in these challenging conversations. We will do all we can to support public messaging.

We will be hosting a webinar on Tuesday 5 January 2021, 5-6pm to provide further updates on the COVID-19 vaccine roll out. A link to join the MS Teams Live event can be found on FutureNHS.

As difficult as it is, we must act at speed if we are to beat this pandemic which is running rampant in our communities and we believe the public will understand and thank us for this decisive action. 

We look forward to working with you in 2021.

Nikki and Ed

COVID-19 Vaccination Programme workspace

General practice - latest updates

Dates for your diary

Tuesday 5 January 2021, 10-11am Primary Care Covid Vaccine Pinnacle System Administrators training for designated sites. A link to join the MS Teams Live event can be found on FutureNHS.

Tuesday 5 January 2021, 5-6pm with Nikki Kanani and Ed Waller to provide further updates on the COVID-19 vaccine roll out. A link to join the MS Teams Live event can be found on FutureNHS.

New year webinars on working with people and communities in PCNs
Our webinar series for colleagues working in primary care networks continues next month, helping PCNs to provide inclusive services for people and communities from the most marginalised groups, who experience the greatest health inequalities. They include:

• Wednesday 6 January 2021, 1pm - 2pm. ‘Reaching out to communities at speed’ – Elliot Hall Practice Heroes project during COVID-19
• Wednesday 13 January 2021 12pm - 1pm. ‘A masterclass on conducting telephone surveys’
• Tuesday 26 January 2021 12pm - 1pm. ‘A masterclass on surveys’

Tuesday 12 January 2021, 1pm - 2pm. COVID Oximetry @home: an overview for primary care. 

Wednesday, 13 January 2021. 2pm - 3.30pm. Common Challenges and Proven Solutions for Teledermatology: (Part 2/3)