Vaccination Centre

WQ.362/2023

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES BY DEPUTY A. HOWELL OF ST. JOHN, ST. LAWRENCE AND TRINITY QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 25th SEPTEMBER 2023

ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 2nd OCTOBER 2023

Question

“In relation to the Vaccination Centre at Fort Regent, will the Minister –

1. state how many staff (both clinical and non-clinical) are employed there;
2. provide the number of vaccinations administered daily, broken down into Flu and Covid vaccines;
3. advise how much it is costing per day to run the Centre;
4. confirm whether the Centre was closed during the Summer, and if it was, advise who made the decision to re-open it and what discussions were undertaken, if any, with regards to offering Flu and Covid vaccines at GP surgeries instead; and
5. provide the total cost of the Vaccination Centre from 2020 to date, broken down per year, alongside the expected total cost for the rest of this year?”

Answer

1. There are 11.2 full time equivalent clinical staff who administer vaccines both within Fort Regent but also via a home visit service to residential care homes and those who are housebound. There are also 16.4 full time equivalent non-clinical staff who plan for future campaigns, collate operational data, prepare the home visit service, and support the running of the operational service at the Fort. Additionally, one Zero hours General Practitioner (GP) is available for clinical advice and guidance as required. Since 2021, workforce headcount has reduced in line with the more targeted approach we now have towards COVID vaccination delivery.

COVID vaccination activity has changed over time, from mass vaccination of the whole population in 2021, to a more targeted approach focussing on the groups at most risk, such as those aged 65+. Jersey’s vaccination programmes are aligned to those in the rest of the British Isles, as we follow the guidance of the national Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

2. The table below provides details of COVID and Flu vaccines administered since the beginning of the 2023 winter vaccination campaigns, by day. The COVID autumn booster campaign commenced on 12 September and Flu was introduced on 19 September. The data below is a sample of uptake to date, and the winter vaccination campaigns are ongoing.

Demand for vaccinations is highest as new campaigns are launched or when new cohorts are opened. As demand reduces, the team redirect focus and resource to the community settings including the housebound and outreach clinics.

3. Average cost per day, Jan-Sep 2023: £6,179.87. The Jersey Audit Office review of the COVID- 19 Test and Trace and Vaccination Programmes (May 2022) found that the cost of administering each vaccine was similar to Scotland and lower than the cost seen in England.
4. The main COVID vaccination service was temporarily suspended during a period of low activity over the summer months. Appointments for those immunosuppressed and undergoing any treatment continued. Staff were redeployed to other areas of Government to provide valuable support where needed during this time. A limited number of staff were not redeployed in order to plan the autumn winter vaccination campaigns and for bespoke bookings by Islanders at higher risk.

Jersey continues to align the vaccination strategy with the rest of the British Isles, however in a post- pandemic environment, the next step is to remodel and develop the delivery system for COVID and influenza vaccination and positive discussions are currently ongoing with primary care.

5. Comparative running costs since commencing COVID-19 mass vaccination centre:

* The first COVID vaccine was administered on 13 December 2020.