Last updated on June 18th, 2021 at 01:16 pm
Dear colleagues
I am sure you will have been as pleased as I was last week to see 90-year-old Margaret Keenan from Coventry become the first patient in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine outside of a clinical trial, following its approval by the MHRA. This was an important milestone and marks the start of the biggest and most complex immunisation programme in the history of the NHS.
At STHK, although we were not chosen as one of the first 50 hospital hubs around the country to begin vaccination, we have been busy preparing so that we are ready to roll-out the vaccine to those in the highest priority groups as soon as possible. This will include local care home staff, patients aged 80 and over, and frontline NHS staff.
However, now that the vaccine is available, it is important that we protect staff classed as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) as soon as possible. In order for this to take place, Liverpool University Hospitals Foundation Trust (LUHFT) have agreed that STHK staff in this category can receive their first dose of the vaccine at one of the clinics already established at their Aintree site. Eligible staff will be contacted by the STHK HR Department in the coming days, with details of how to arrange an appointment.
Further roll-out to STHK staff will commence as soon as we receive delivery of the vaccine here at the Trust. This is a complex vaccination programme which represents significant logistical challenges, but please be assured that we will be ready to go live with our vaccination clinics at the earliest opportunity available to us.
Thank you to all of you who have come forward to support our preparations, those who have volunteered as vaccinators and in the essential support roles needed at the vaccination clinics. I know it is difficult when so much is yet to be confirmed and I am grateful for your continued commitment and flexibility to ensure we are ready to go when the time is right.
I will keep you updated on our plans in regular updates and I am confident that as soon as we are able, we will ensure the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine across the Trust is as swift and efficient as possible.
Once again, thank you all for your hard work and support.
Ann
Ann Marr OBE
Chief Executive