COVID-19 Bulletin: Friday 16 April
April 16, 2021
| Numbers not statistics: This week (last week)
|
1. New: Surge testing in Birmingham zone: Requirement for colleague LAMP testing
Birmingham City Council have today announced a surge testing programme for residents and those working within the Ladywood, Jewellery Quarter and Soho wards which includes City Hospital. This is a result of identifying a strain of the coronavirus first identified in South Africa.
There is currently no evidence to suggest this variant is more serious than others, or that the current vaccines would not protect against it.
The surge testing doesn’t change anything for us in terms of provision of services, or movement in and out of the area identified.
The council is working closely with Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace to support measures to curb any potential spread of this variant; this will include significantly increasing the testing offer in a targeted and intelligence-led way.
Residents over the age of 16 who are living or working in Ladywood, Jewellery Quarter and Soho wards are strongly encouraged to take part in the door to door testing when offered, even if they are not showing symptoms.
What this means for you
If you are a staff member who:
- Works in any environment at City Hospital
- Has visited City Hospital in the last two weeks
You should arrange collection of the LAMP test kit (if you haven’t already got one) and start to submit your samples as soon as possible. You can book a kit collection slot by calling 0121 507 2664 and selecting option 6, Monday – Friday, 8am – 6pm. Saturdays and Sundays call 07816 992873 or 07970 428995 8am – 4pm. Some of you may be running out of test kits, so please ensure you contact the call centre so that you can collect a fresh kit. We would also ask all staff working at other sites to undertake regular testing as well via the same route.
In addition to LAMP testing, those staff who live in the affected areas of Ladywood, Jewellery Quarter and Soho wards, including those who are home working or shielding, are urged to get tested following the guidance provided by the council. See the dedicated website for more information. If you are provided with a Covid test from the door to door team you should take this test and return it regardless of whether you are providing LAMP test samples through the Trust.
Detecting positive cases sooner reduces the risk of the virus being passed on to patients, colleagues, and family members and beyond in the community. Positive tests will need to be sequenced further to help identify further spread. For this reason for the next two weeks only, if you have a positive LAMP test you will be required to have a PCR swab test.
Dr David Carruthers, Medical Director shares an update explaining the importance of testing and why we should ALL be testing on a weekly basis.
Regular testing will keep you safe
LAMP testing is a speedy and reliable COVID-19 test which requires you to collect a saliva sample once a week in the morning before you brush your teeth or have your breakfast. When you arrive at work, you can deposit your sample into a collection box – and you’ll receive your result via text message.
We must remind everyone that LAMP testing is open to both clinical and non-clinical colleagues. It is vital that we continue to test despite colleagues having had the COVID vaccination and infection rates starting to drop.
Please drop off your sample into phlebotomy department Monday – Friday from 7:30am – 3:30pm in the following locations:
- OPD first floor Corridor D Sandwell Site
- Ground floor BTC
- Ground floor Rowley Regis Hospital
- First floor Neptune Health Park
- Second floor Lyng Health and Social Care Centre
- Victoria Health Centre
- Oldbury Health Centre
Alternatively you can drop off your samples in the LAMP collection bins at Sandwell outside the Bryan Knight Suite, outside pathology or A&E.
At City, the LAMP collection bins can be found outside pharmacy main spine, outside pathology and A&E.
Further information on LAMP testing can be found in the attached FAQs.
Watch our animation on how to take part in LAMP testing or read more here.
2. New: City Hospital swabbing pod to wind down
City Hospital’s swabbing pod will be winding down over the rest of this month. City pod is closed at weekends and will be closing entirely as of Monday 3 May.
As of Monday 3 May we will only be operating the swabbing pod from Little Lane at Sandwell Hospital, seven days a week, 8:30am – 3:30pm.
We would like to reassure colleagues that there is enough capacity for testing for the current and anticipated level of demand.
If you have been experiencing COVID-19 symptoms you can book an appointment for a test by calling the Community Contact Centre on 0121 507 2664 and choosing option 6 for your call to be pushed into the swabbing queue and prioritised, Monday – Friday, 8am – 6pm. On Saturdays and Sundays call 07816 992873 or 07970 428995 8am – 4pm.]
3. New: New vaccine advice for household contacts of immunosuppressed adults
Recent communication from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI advises that adult household contacts of severely immunosuppressed adults (aged 16 years and over) should be offered COVID-19 vaccination alongside priority group 6.
This will be communicated to patients primarily via the PCNs, but the matter should also be raised with your patients when seeking any assistance from the Trust – be it face-to-face or virtually. Booking for vaccinations should be via the individual’s registered GP.
This is in response to regular monitoring of data on vaccine effectiveness and impact, which indicates lower protection in vaccinated adults who are immunosuppressed. Those with severe immunosuppression are therefore more likely to suffer poor outcomes following infection and are less likely to benefit from the vaccines offered. The JCVI’s recommendation to vaccinate adult household contacts aims therefore to reduce the risk of infection in the immunosuppressed who may not be able to fully benefit from vaccination.
The JCVI definition of severely immunosuppressed individuals (per Greenbook Chapter 14A) includes but is not limited to:
- Individuals who are receiving immunosuppressive or immunomodulating biological therapy and individuals treated with steroid sparing agents.
- Individuals treated with or likely to be treated with systemic steroids for more than a month at a dose equivalent to prednisolone at 20mg or more per day for adults.
- Anyone with a history of haematological malignancy, and those who may require long term immunosuppressive treatments.
Please note: Immunosuppressed children are not included in the definition, in that their adult household contacts are not being advised for vaccination as part of the current JCVI guidance.
If this affects your patients, please speak to your clinical leads for further information.
4. Updated: COVID vaccines – latest information on blood clot risks
Since the start of the pandemic over 4 million COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in the UK causing more than 120,000 deaths. Over 30 million people have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine since the start of the programme, which Public Health England (PHE) estimate has prevented at least 6,000 deaths in the first 3 months of 2021. There have been reports of an extremely rare adverse event of concurrent thrombosis (blood clots) and thrombocytopenia (low platelet count) following vaccination with the first dose of AstraZeneca. The Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has weighed the relative balance of benefits and risks and advise that the benefits of prompt vaccination with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine far outweigh the risk of adverse events for individuals 30 years of age and over and those who have underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19 disease.
MHRA and JCVI have made clear the balance of risk is still very much in favour of vaccination, and that all those who have received a first dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine should take their second dose of the vaccine, irrespective of age. For colleagues under 30 without underlying health conditions it is preferable for them to be offered an alternative COVID-19 vaccine, if available. See item 5 of this bulletin to find out how you can obtain an alternative vaccine if you are aged under 30.
Colleagues can read the full MHRA and JCVI announcement online here.
You can find information about the vaccine programme here on the NHS website.
The gov.uk website has also published a number of updates:
- A vaccination guide for adults.
- What to expect after vaccination.
- And information regarding COVID-19 vaccination and blood clotting.
5. Updated: Don’t miss out on your second Pfizer dose
Colleagues are reminded to please ensure you remember to attend the vaccination centre on your booked date for your second vaccination dose. If you are not able to make your booked vaccination date, you can rearrange your appointment by calling the vaccination call centre on 0121 507 4112, but you are advised not to go beyond 12 weeks after your first jab. The Sandwell Hospital hub will be closing at the end of April so please act now if you need to re-arrange your appointment.
Not too late to get your first dose
Tipton Sports Academy, Wednesbury Road, is available as a destination for you to get your first dose of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine with the hub running Monday to Sunday, 8am to 7pm. Book your slot via the national boking website.
Are you aged under 30?
For under 30s, where Astra-Zeneca is currently not advised, first dose of Pfizer will be available at the Sandwell Hospital hub, until the of end April, while stocks last! Call the booking team for appointments from Monday 19 April on 0121 507 4112.
6. Reminder: Advice to colleagues during Ramadan
The month of prayer and fasting for Muslim colleagues and patients is now underway.
This year Ramadan takes place at a critical time in the NHS vaccine rollout. Concerns had been raised about whether the act of getting the vaccine would break the fast, as well as potential side effects of feeling unwell after being vaccinated, and reservations about taking daily pain relief medication. Dr Habib Naqvi, director of the NHS Race Health Observatory has said: “There is no reason why a first or second dose vaccine cannot be administered during Ramadan. The content is halal, and receiving it will not invalidate the Ramadan fast, as per the opinion of Islamic scholars.”
Further guidance has been developed by the British Islamic Association (BIMA) debunking myths surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine including during Ramadan.=
7. Reminder: COVID vaccine Q&A session: View the recording from the BME Staff Network event
At the end of March the BME Staff Network hosted a Q&A event aimed at answering the questions and concerns you may have about receiving the COVID vaccine. Joined by a panel of subject experts within the organisation the event discussed the concerns, queries and questions colleagues had about the COVID-19 vaccination as well as hearing from Steven Shanu, Lead Pharmacist who shared his own experiences of being part of the clinical trials for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
If you missed the session, you can watch a recording below: