11,000 residents in top three priority groups vaccinated

So far, more than 11,000 people in the borough have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine - including residents of 50 of the 57 local care homes.

The majority of over 80-year-old residents in the borough have now received their first vaccination.

In an update to councillors, Rochdale Council chief executive Steve Rumbelow said: "It is expected that all care home residents and staff will have received the vaccination by the end of January.

"Housebound and supported living residents are now starting to be vaccinated and this group is expected to be completed by the end of next week (Friday 29 January)."

The remainder of people in the over 80s group, some of whom were not contactable, or did not attend a scheduled appointment are being contacted or re-contacted in order to arrange for them to have a vaccine.

Figures provided by Rochdale Council show that there are 24,814 people in the borough who are aged 70 and over that should receive their first vaccination before mid February.

The top four priority groups that the team is aiming to get vaccinated before 15 February include (in priority order):

• residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
• people aged 80 years and over
• frontline health and social care workers
• people aged 75-79
• people aged 70-74
• high risk people under 65 (the clinically extremely vulnerable)

Nationally, over 5.4million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine. In England, 71% of those over the age of 80 and two thirds of care home residents have had their first vaccination.

 

 

In his update, Steve Rumbelow said work to begin vaccinating those aged 75 to 79 was well underway and that this group should be completed ‘by the beginning of next week (25 January)’.

From this weekend work will begin on contacting people in the borough who are clinically extremely vulnerable and from next week those in the next age group (people aged 70 to 74) will begin to be contacted.

The borough now has four community vaccination centres in operation; the site at Number One Riverside can get up to 1,250 vaccinations completed per day (depending on supply).

Residents may be invited to have the vaccination at the Greater Manchester NHS Vaccination Centre at the Etihad Campus in East Manchester, one of the national large-scale vaccination sites.

The Greater Manchester centre is an additional option for people, who, once they have been contacted to make an appointment, can book through the national booking service online or over the phone. If it is not convenient for you to travel so far for a vaccination, you can opt to wait to be invited to attend one of the local vaccination centres in the Rochdale borough instead.

The local vaccination programme is being run by groups of GPs with the support of the council and NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group.

When it is your turn to receive the vaccine, you will be contacted by Rochdale Health Alliance or your GP surgery and invited to go for your appointment. If you’re not registered with a GP, you will need to register with one.

Appointments for the local vaccination centres are not currently being made weeks in advance because deliveries of the vaccine are only known about a few days in advance. Admin staff can only book a first appointment for a patient when the vaccine is available so at the moment appointments will be at short notice.

You must have an appointment to receive the vaccine. You cannot just turn up at one of the vaccination service centres.

Answers to key questions around the vaccination process can be found at 

• www.rochdale.gov.uk/covidvaccine

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Case numbers in the borough have come down from earlier in the month, with 351 cases per 100,000 people being reported for the week ending 17 January.

The age group with the most new cases is 20-29 year-olds and the wards with the most cases include Hopwood Hall in Heywood, East and West Middleton wards and Healey ward.

 

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A FAST test programme has been set up this week, with four test sites across the borough.

Anyone who cannot work from home or comes into regular contact with the public is encouraged to take up this offer of new Find And Stop Transmission (FAST) testing to protect themselves, their loved ones, and other residents.

The FAST testing programme, which use lateral flow tests, aims to identify those who unknowingly have the virus as they have no symptoms – otherwise known as asymptomatic.

FAST tests are only for people showing no symptoms. You must not attend if you have any symptoms. Tests are free and there is no need to book you can simply turn up at one of the sites across the borough:

• Rochdale – Nye Bevan House, Maclure Road, Rochdale, OL11 1DN
• Heywood – Heywood Sports Village, West Starkey Street, Heywood, OL10 4TW (both a walk in site and a drive-through site)
• Middleton – Bowlee Sports Centre, Windermere Road, Middleton, M24 4LA
• Pennines – Hare Hill Bowling Club, Townhouse Road Littleborough, OL15 9BG

All sites are open 8am to 7pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 4pm at weekends.

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If you have Covid-19 symptoms please do not attend one of the FAST test sites. You should book a test online or by phoning 101.

• www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test

The borough has three local test centres: 

• Rochdale - in the car park at Rochdale Leisure Centre, Entwisle Road, Rochdale OL16 2HZ.
• Middleton - in the marquee on the Market Place Car Park next to Middleton Arena, Old Hall Street, Middleton M24 1AG. 
• Heywood - Heywood Civic Centre, LCpl Stephen Shaw MC Way, Heywood OL10 1LW.

You must drive, walk or cycle to the site - do not use a taxi or public transport. If this is not possible, you'll need to order yourself a home test.

Bookings for 8am-1pm can be booked from 8pm the night before. Bookings from 1pm-8pm can be booked from 10am that day.