ANOTHER milestone in the fight against Coronavirus has been reached as care home residents and staff receive their COVID-19 vaccination.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg UHB’s vaccination teams visited Ty Pentwyn care home in Treorchy to provide the vaccine to staff and residents as it is rolled out across the Cwm Taf Morgannwg region. This is part of an initial pilot using the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine which requires careful storage and moving. As further vaccines become available which require normal storage processes we will be able to increase our vaccination programme at pace for care home residents and our over 80s population.
Trained vaccinators are working hard to ensure the vaccine is offered to people as quickly as possible and in line with the national guidance. The vaccine is already being offered to NHS frontline staff across the Health Board, but the delivery of the vaccine to care homes in the area is the next step in protecting the most vulnerable from the virus.
Dr Kelechi Nnoaham, Director of Public Health for CTMUHB, said: “This is a really positive step for all of us in the fight against this virus. We know that care home residents are some of the most vulnerable people in society when it comes to COVID-19 and we have seen the devastating impact this virus has had on some of our care homes. By providing them with the vaccine we are able to protect them from this. I would like to pay tribute to all of our staff who are continuing to work so hard to respond to the pandemic and the efforts of the teams who have worked at pace to make arrangements to roll out this vaccine.
“While the distribution of the vaccine is fantastic news, I would also issue a plea to our communities not to become complacent. It will take some time for the vaccine to be fully rolled out and sadly COVID-19 rates remain extremely high in our areas and rates continue to rise at an alarming rate. I’d therefore urge everyone to continue to take preventative measures such as wearing face masks, washing hands, socially distancing from others and following the Welsh Government guidelines.”
