Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board Vaccination Update

COVID-19 Vaccination Update 20.04.21

From Gill Harris – Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery

This week, to ensure our vaccine supply is administered as quickly as it is received, we will continue to run two streams for those aged 18-49.

One will deliver the Pfizer vaccine to those under the age of 30, and one will deliver the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to those aged between 30 and 49.

We are adopting this pragmatic approach to ensure vaccines are not left for long periods unused.

Those aged under 30 who have already received a first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine for health reasons will continue to receive a second dose of the same vaccine at the due time, as there have been no serious adverse events attributed to second doses of the Oxford vaccine.

This is all consistent with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

If you have any concerns about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, please still attend your appointment so we can take the time to discuss these with you before you make a decision on whether or not to go ahead with vaccination.

Vaccination progress as at April 19^th 2021:

• 527,277 total vaccinations have been administered in North Wales
• First dose vaccines – 375,467
• Second dose vaccines – 151,810

Percentage of people in Priority Groups who have received a first dose:

• People aged 65  to 69: 93 per cent
• People aged 16 to 64 in an at risk group: 83 per cent
• People aged 60 to 64: 87 per cent
• People aged 55-59: 84 per cent
• People aged 50-54: 81 per cent
• People aged 40-49: 29 per cent
• People aged 30-39: 6 per cent
• People aged 18-29: 6 per cent

A detailed breakdown of the North Wales COVID-19 Vaccination Programme can be found on our website: Vaccinations statistics - Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (nhs.wales)

Who we are currently vaccinating and how they will be contacted

This week we are continuing to provide vaccination to the following groups, with invitations made by letter, text message and phone call:

• People aged 50-69 and those aged 16-64 with certain underlying health conditions (Priority Groups 5-9)
• People aged 18-49 years (Priority Group 10)

Advice for those who haven’t yet received an invitation.

People in the following groups who have not yet been able to take up an appointment are asked to complete our online form. We will then send out an appointment letter in the post.

Please complete the form if you are:

• a person over 16 who lives with individuals with severely weakened immune systems
• aged 50 or over and not received an invite
• aged 16 years to 64 years with certain underlying health conditions
• unpaid carers who are unknown to us

If you are unable to access the internet, please contact our COVID-19 Vaccination Contact Centre on 03000 840004. The lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturday to Sunday, 9am to 1pm.

We are currently contacting people aged 40-49 directly with an appointment to receive a first COVID-19 vaccine. Please only contact us if you wish to rearrange or cancel your appointment once you have received it.

If you’re aged 18-39 please be patient – you shouldn’t be waiting too much longer now.

COVID-19 Vaccination Contact Centre

Our COVID-19 Vaccination Contact Centre continues to receive a high volume of calls and we are aware that people are sometimes waiting much longer than we would like to get through.

We are working hard to create additional capacity within the contact centre and we continue to ask people to be patient.

Please help us to help you by only calling our COVID-19 Vaccination Contact Centre for the following reasons: 

• you have been invited to contact us to cancel or amend an appointment
• you are in one of the groups described above and haven’t yet been able to take up a first appointment, and you are unable to access the internet to complete our online form  (you will have your contact details taken and will receive a call back to book an appointment)

Vaccination centre locations 

We are currently exploring how we can administer the Pfizer vaccine through a combination of GP cluster led clinics and health board led Local Vaccination Centres, while continuing to meet the vaccine’s strict handling and storage requirements.

We hope that this will increase flexibility for people under the age of 30 who live in rural areas and cannot easily travel to our Mass Vaccination Centres. Further details will be shared through this weekly update once confirmed.

Your questions answered

For further information on the North Wales COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, including answers to Frequently Asked Questions, please visit our website: https://bcuhb.nhs.wales/covid-19/covid-19-vaccination-information/