Posted 08 January 2021 - 17:00
Posted 08 January 2021 - 17:00
News
COVID-19 vaccination: which nursing staff get top priority?
Guidance states which health and care staff should be offered coronavirus jabs first
NHS England and NHS Improvement sets out timeline for workforce immunisation
Guidance on which healthcare staff should be at the front of the queue for the COVID-19 vaccine in England has been published.
Front-line staff and nursing students at high risk of acquiring infection, of developing serious disease, or of transmitting infection to vulnerable people or colleagues should be top workforce priority, the NHS England and NHS Improvement guidance states.
Until now, staff at elevated risk from COVID-19 were only offered the vaccine when unfilled patient appointments became available.
COVID-19 vaccination: priority healthcare staff groups
Source: NHS England and NHS Improvement
- Staff delivering coronavirus vaccinations
- Anyone in frequent face-to-face contact with patients
- Front-line social care staff
- People working in independent or voluntary settings such as hospices and in community-based mental health or addiction services
- Temporary, locum or bank staff, students, trainees and volunteers who are working with patients
All acute NHS trusts in England will become ‘hospital hubs’ by mid-January, making them the default providers of staff vaccination. They will be expected to operate seven days a week from the first week of February.
Prime minister Boris Johnson has promised everyone in the top four priority groups – including front-line health and social care workers – will receive the first dose of the vaccine by February 15.
Moderna vaccine
The guidance was issued ahead of the news that the Moderna vaccine became the third to be approved by the UK medicines regulator.
The government has ordered 17 million doses of Moderna vaccine but they will not arrive in the UK until March.
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