It feels like we are still in the eye of the Covid-19 storm with the infection rate still running high for Ealing and, nationwide, the number of patients being admitted to hospital still running high though maybe just beginning to plateau. Nevertheless, there are some glimmers of light:
1.Free Covid-19 tests are available for people who still need to go out for work:
The tests are available at the following centres in Ealing, 7 days a week, from 9am – 5pm:
- Perceval House, 14 – 16 Uxbridge Road, W5 2HL
- Everyone Active Acton, High Street W3 6NE
- Ealing Central Library, The Broadway W5 5JY
- Greenford Library, 23 Oldfield Lane South UB6 9LG
- Northolt Library, Church Road UB5 5AS
- Southall Manor House, The Green, UB2 4BJ
Currently this service is not available to anyone under the age of 16.
2. Rate of vaccination increasing
The national daily rate for giving people with their first vaccination is increasing with the running total now just over 4 million. The government’s initial target to vaccinate the four most at risk categories of people totalling some 15 million by mid-February. To achieve this target it needs to be vaccinating 2 million people a week. The recent daily rates for administering the first dose are:
11th January 145,076
12th January 207,661
13th January 278,943
14th January 316,694
15th January 324,233
16th January 298,087
Over one third of Ealing’s over 80-year-olds have been vaccinated
According to Eric Leach’s most recent Covid-19 newsletter, ‘Ealing Council says that 34% of the borough’s over 80-year-olds have been vaccinated with their first jab. 4.8% of the nation’s population are over 80. 441,683 patients are registered at Ealing’s 75 GP practices. That gives us 21,200 over 80s. If 7,208 of them have already been vaccinated that’s quite an achievement.
In NHS North West London (NWL) 56,000 people in Priority Groups 1 – 3 have received their first vaccination. These are elderly patients and their carers in care homes, frontline health and social care workers and over 75-year-olds. Apparently, there are 130,000 in these priority groups still to be vaccinated, but NHS NWL is confident they will all be vaccinated by mid-February 2021.’
Some local GP surgeries likely to start vaccinating this month
With the easier-to-store AstraZeneca vaccine now becoming available it seems likely that some GP surgeries will start to get involved in the vaccination effort this month. This is in addition to the two existing mass vaccination centres at Ealing Town Hall and Southall’s Dominion Centre.