Governments yet again ask key frontline workers for huge national effort, but they are still not paying them properly, says GMB
GMB Union encourages everyone to get their booster – but says frontline workers need a pay boost too.
Rehana Azam, GMB National Secretary, said: “There has been no respite for our frontline workers throughout the covid pandemic.
“They’ve put themselves in harm’s way to serve the public – particularly when governments and employers failed to ensure the provision of proper PPE and testing to keep them safe at work.
“GMB members know the importance of keeping safe and well, that’s why we’re encouraging everyone across the four nations to get their booster.
“But as governments, yet again, ask our NHS, social care and key frontline workers to undertake another huge national effort, they are still not paying these workers properly.
“Against the backdrop of covid, there is a cost-of-living crisis, key services face an understaffing crisis and the people delivering them are enduring a wage crisis.
“That’s not good enough and it’s got to be confronted.
“Our key workers must be paid properly – it’s the least they deserve for everything they are doing for all of us.”
New alcohol policy measures should be considered to reduce drink-related ambulance callouts, according to researchers studying data from Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University of Stirling-led team made the recommendation after their study found that ambulance callouts related to drinking in licensed premises fell significantly during the first lockdown – but were replaced relatively quickly by alcohol-related callouts to homes.
Professor Niamh Fitzgerald, Director of the Institute for Social Marketing and Health at Stirling, led the study and believes its findings present policymakers with an opportunity to reflect on how to sustain the positive outcomes of lockdown for the NHS and emergency services – including a reduction in what paramedics described as “mass public intoxication” over weekends – but also tackling other issues, such as the increase in problems caused by drinking at home.
Niamh Fitzgerald
Professor Fitzgerald said: “During the pandemic, both in the UK and abroad, licensed premises – including bars, restaurants and nightclubs – faced significant restrictions, including closures and curfews, which helped to reduce spread of the virus. However, we know that these restrictions also led to many people drinking more alcohol at home.
“By looking at data from the frontline of the NHS – the Scottish Ambulance Service – and adjusting for the fact that ambulance callouts fell during this period for other reasons, our study shows that there were disproportionately large short-term reductions in alcohol-related callouts in April and May 2020, when licensed premises were closed, compared to the previous year.
“This was a situation that paramedics described as a ‘welcome break’ from the hostile, alcohol-fuelled scenes experienced in towns and cities on weekend nights pre-pandemic.
“However, we also identified public health risks caused by increased home drinking during this period – with those night-time callouts quickly replaced by alcohol-related ambulance callouts on all days of the week, likely to be linked to home drinking.
“For example, in June 2020, when premises were still closed and weekend night-time callouts for alcohol incidents were still lower, the proportion of alcohol-related callouts had almost returned to pre-pandemic levels. Overall, there were 18,832 alcohol-related callouts at the height of the pandemic, in April to June 2020 – 16 percent of all callouts.
“Our findings suggest that policymakers here in Scotland, but also around the UK and abroad, need to consider how to build upon the lessons learned during the pandemic. As the night-time economy recovers, how can we avoid a return to pre-pandemic levels of alcohol-related callouts arising from the night-time economy, but also reduce callouts and harm from home drinking?”
Reduction in callouts
The research team – involving academics from ISMH and the University of Glasgow – analysed interviews with licensing stakeholders, to understand how COVID-19 has affected licensing and alcohol-related harms; explored the experiences of ambulance clinicians in further interviews; and conducted descriptive and time series analyses of alcohol-related ambulance callouts in Scotland, before and during the first lockdown.
Overall ambulance callouts for all causes between March and June 2020 – when lockdown was in place – decreased in comparison to the previous year. However, alcohol-related callouts fell much more sharply – with a 23% reduction in April 2020, compared to the same period in 2019. The drop was even more stark at weekends – down 31.8% – and at weekend night-times, down 48.9%.
After April, despite licensed premises remaining closed, the proportion of alcohol-related callouts gradually started to return to pre-lockdown levels. However, the resurgence in alcohol-related callouts was generated by calls spread throughout the week rather than concentrated at weekends, which still experienced substantially lower callouts in June 2020 than the previous year.
“Massive drop” in alcohol related incidents
Ambulance clinicians reported that the number of late-night callouts relating to alcohol “plummeted” when premises closed completely or operated under a curfew. However, there were perceived increases in domestic callouts and concerns raised about home drinking.
One paramedic said that during this time there had been “nowhere near the same amount of public intoxication or mass intoxication… there’s been much less in the way of assaults that involve alcohol, unconscious people outside that involve alcohol, falls that involve alcohol. All these things we’ve noticed a massive drop in.”
Another said: “It’s so nice to go to work on a Friday night knowing that you don’t have to go into pubs and clubs… it’s made a huge difference”
Several reported that the reduction in alcohol-related calls meant that they were spending more time on other calls.
Dr Jim Ward, Medical Director at the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS), said: “We will always respond to people in need regardless of cause, location, or time.
“However, heavy drinking both at home and when on nights out, as well as through chronic alcohol problems, not only increases the risk of accidents but can also lead to a rise in assaults, including those against ambulance staff.
“By drinking in a way that avoids harm, the public can support our hard working staff and avoid putting unnecessary pressure on our service and A&E departments at an extremely busy time.”
Policy implications
Professor Fitzgerald said: “The views expressed by paramedics are powerful and give pause for thought about whether business recovery post-COVID has to mean a return to the ‘mass intoxication’ described.
“This is surely an opportunity for politicians and clinicians to show leadership in pushing for better alcohol policies that protect the NHS and frontline services. At a time when policymakers want to support the hospitality sector, but also wish to protect health services, there is an opportunity to put in place win-win policies that can do both.”
The research team suggest that one such policy could be to increase the minimum unit price of shop-purchased alcohol to reduce consumption within homes without affecting prices in bars. Other possibilities discussed are restrictions on online sales and licensing changes.
The research teams are analysing separately if and how the 50p minimum unit price, introduced in Scotland in 2018, has impacted alcohol-related ambulance callouts, as well as exploring expert and stakeholder views on this and other ‘win-win’ policies.
The researchers used data from the ‘Evaluating the impact of alcohol licensing in England and Scotland (ExILEnS)’ project, funded by the National Institute for Health Research’s Public Health Research Programme; and the ‘Impact of minimum pricing for alcohol on ambulance callouts in Scotland (IMPAACT)’ and ‘Lockdown and Licensed Premises’ studies, both funded by the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office.
The new paper, Lockdown and Licensed Premises: COVID-19 Lessons for Alcohol Policy, is published in Drug and Alcohol Review.
Thousands of COVID-19 cases have been detected by the Asymptomatic Testing Programme, a Scottish Government evaluation has found.
More than 6.6 million LFD results reported by Scots were considered in the Asymptomatic Testing Programme Evaluation which looked at nine testing pathways including community testing, early learning and childcare settings and the Health and Social Care workforce.
The number of positive cases identified by LFD testing, then confirmed by PCR, was 7,271, according to the study which looked at the period between November last year and June 2021.
The data shows widespread uptake of testing among the general population through the pathways, including the universal offer.
https://youtu.be/Q92_ZJRWqiI
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “Scotland’s Testing Strategy is a key part of our approach to controlling the Covid-19 pandemic and minimising transmission.
“This report shows the importance of regular asymptomatic testing in capturing cases of the Covid-19 often before symptoms emerge. These would otherwise go undetected or be found much later in the virus progression, once symptoms had developed.
“As we go into this holiday period, frequent testing with lateral flow devices is essential and I would urge people to make sure they report the results – whether positive, negative or void – which only takes a few minutes.
“Everyone should do a lateral flow test before mixing with people from other households. That means before going to a pub, to a restaurant, visiting someone’s house, or even going shopping.”
UK Government and NHS announce ambition to recruit tens of thousands of volunteers to help get jabs into arms
All eligible adults will be offered the chance to get their jab before the New Year
PM: “We need you to come forward again, to work alongside our brilliant GPs, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, to deliver jabs and save lives.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard have joined forces to issue a rallying cry for thousands of volunteers to come forward and support the NHS booster campaign.
The public will be urged to play a crucial role in the UK’s fight against Omicron by helping the NHS to get as many jabs into arms as quickly as possible. No task will be too small to contribute towards this national effort.
Yesterday the Prime Minister announced a new ambition for every eligible adult to have the chance to get their jab by the end of the year.
This follows new evidence that suggest the Omicron variant is extremely transmissible and two jabs are not enough to protect against infection.
The new target means the NHS will be massively ramping up its vaccine operations in the next few days, and it needs as many people as possible to play their part by volunteering their time to help.
Urging volunteers to sign up to the booster drive, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “As part of our Get Boosted Now vaccination drive we need to increase our jabbing capacity to unprecedented levels.
“But to achieve something on this scale, we need your help. So today I’m issuing a call for volunteers to join our national mission to get jabs in arms.
“We need tens of thousands of people to help out – everyone from trained vaccinators to stewards.
“Many thousands have already given their time – but we need you to come forward again, to work alongside our brilliant GPs, doctors, nurses and pharmacists, to deliver jabs and save lives.
“So please come forward if you can.”
There are now almost 3,000 vaccine sites across the country, staffed by over 90,000 volunteers who have given up 1.1 million hours of time so far.
In the next week hundreds more sites, mobile units and pop ups will be springing up across the country. These will be in a range of locations that will make it as easy as possible for people to get boosted – such as at football stadia, shopping centres and racecourses.
This means volunteers are needed to perform tasks such as registering patients, managing queues and giving jabs.
Last week the NHS announced a recruitment drive for 10,000 paid vaccinators and support staff and that it will also work with the Royal Voluntary Service and St. John Ambulance to recruit a further 40,000 volunteers for roles such as admin and stewarding queues.
In the last week, 13,000 people have come forward as steward volunteers, and a further 4,500 people have registered their interest to take up one of the 10,000 paid vaccinator roles. The government and NHS now want to go even further.
NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said: “In the face of the grave threat posed by the new Omicron strain of Covid, the NHS is seeking to offer vaccine booster protection to all eligible adults by the end of the month, a new national mission in which everyone can play their part.
“There is no doubt that our incredible NHS staff will rise to the challenge but we cannot do this alone – we need the support of the public and volunteers to once again support the Covid vaccination programme.
“Since we first issued a call to arms we have had an outstanding response but Omicron has shifted the goalposts and we are now renewing our plea to the nation – I would urge anyone who has volunteered in the past, or considered it but not taken up the opportunity, to come forward now – search ‘NHS vaccine team’ today and find out more about how you can help us save lives.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “To help us turbocharge our COVID-19 booster programme we need people across the country to join our national mission to get boosted now.
“We are so grateful to the volunteer vaccinators from organisations such as St John Ambulance and Royal Voluntary Service who have made an enormous contribution by administering millions of vaccinations since the start of this year.”
People interested in either a voluntary or paid role are urged to visit the Join Vaccine Team page or search ‘NHS vaccine team’. People who volunteered or were trained for paid roles previously are also being contacted to help out again.
Scotland’s First Minister will make a statement on the situation in Scotland this afternoon. It’s expected that restrictions will be strengthened here as Omicron variant cases continue to rise sharply across the UK.
Armed forces step up to support vaccination drive across UK
Over 100 personnel are currently supporting the vaccine rollout in Scotland. 600 Armed Forces personnel have been made available to NHS England to administer vaccines, working in small teams across the country.
In addition, around 50 personnel will provide planning support to NHS England. 41 planners will deploy to NHS trusts across England and 10 logistics experts will be based at NHS England’s headquarters in London.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “We have rapidly mobilised Service personnel to work alongside our dedicated health services to accelerate the vaccine booster programme.
“Our Armed Forces will help to get vaccines into arms as quickly as possible as we continue our efforts to support the UK’s response to the pandemic.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “We are turbocharging our COVID-19 booster programme to offer every adult in England a vaccine by the end of the year to protect people from the Omicron variant.
“Building our defences through boosters is a hugely important national mission and it’s brilliant to see the military supporting our NHS staff in our race against the virus.
“Please get boosted now to top-up your immunity and keep yourself and your loved ones safe this winter.”
Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said: “I’m proud of our Armed Forces who are once again stepping up to help protect people and communities.
“We have a long history of working hand in hand with the NHS as two organisations with a common goal – to help keep our people safe.”
Planners based at NHS England headquarters will be led by Brigadier Phil Prosser who was previously deployed to support the delivery of the vaccine programme which began in December 2020. They will work alongside NHS England to maximise existing capacity and ensure the vaccine programme can be delivered at pace.
Since March 2020, Defence has supported over 430 tasks as part of Operation Rescript – Defence’s support to the UK’s response to the pandemic.
Defence is currently supporting ambulance services in Wales and Scotland and the vaccine rollout in Scotland among other tasks including testing.
Personnel supporting on Operation Rescript tasks have deployed from across the three services – Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force – and are a mixture of regulars and reservists.
‘We need to welcome 3,300 donors per week to ensure blood supplies remain at safe levels‘
Scottish hospitals are currently supplied by the smallest pool of blood donors this century, the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) has revealed. This festive season, SNBTS are asking people to register as a blood donor, or to return and donate if they have not given for a while.
During the Pandemic (from 2019 to 2020), active blood donors in Scotland fell from over 105,000 to fewer than 92,000. This is a real-time reduction of nearly 13% meaning 13,000 fewer people gave blood in a single year.
Although the donor base has started to rebuild in 2021 and Scotland now has 96,000 active blood donors, SNBTS are asking new donors to come forward over the festive period, or those who have got out of the habit to return and donate.
Dr Sylvia Armstrong-Fisher, SNBTS says, ‘During the pandemic, NHS Scotland relied on commitment from existing donors who gave very regularly. We’d like to thank all of these people who supported us at such an important time.
“However, alongside the natural lifecycle of blood donors retiring every day, this led to the community of active donors shrinking to its lowest level since records began.
“We need to welcome 3,300 donors per week to ensure blood supplies remain at safe levels and, with fewer people donating regularly, we want to welcome 50 new or returning blood donors every single day over the festive and Winter period.
‘During the pandemic we have made many positive changes to blood collection, to make giving blood as easy as possible for donors. We are now offering more weekend sessions in our donor centres, and have opened our flagship donor centre in Livingston, which is now welcoming over 800 donors a month. To book your appointment to donate, you can use our online portal.
‘Maintaining a safe and regular supply of blood to hospitals is our top priority. Thank you to everyone who has supported patients in Scotland over the past two years. We look forward to welcoming you soon. Please join this amazing club today and book an appointment to support Scotland’s patients over the Festive period and into the new year.’
Inverness
Helping publicise the campaign are 29yr old Kate McRae, husband Mike (35), and little daughters Abigail (4 months) and Hollie (2) from Ardersier, near Inverness. Kate, an accounts assistant for Arnold Clark, suffered a massive postpartum haemorrhage after giving birth to Abigail earlier this year.
Her life was saved by 12 transfusions given by 12 different people across Scotland. Mike, who has Colitis, also received a lifesaving transfusion when he was just 18. Without blood donors, there would be no MacRae family.
Kate says, ‘We just want to say thank you to everyone who gives blood, in particular the people who gave blood for Mike, and the twelve people who gave blood and blood products for me. I lost nearly all the blood in my body, there’s no doubt that without those people my children wouldn’t have a mother, and my husband wouldn’t have a wife.
‘It’s the best thing you could give this Christmas’
Mike says, ‘It’s scary to think that if people didn’t take half an hour, 45 minutes out their day to give blood, we could be having a very different conversation.’
Aberdeen
In addition to the MacRaes, Dr Musa Watila (47) is joining the call to arms.
A specialty doctor in Neurology at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Dr Watila lives with sickle cell disease and needs transfusions every eight weeks. He loves being a doctor and helping those in need, because as Dr Watila says, ‘I understand very well what it means to be on the other side of the table as a patient.’
Dundee
Dundonian chip shop owner Martine Curran (40) is supporting the drive, showing her gratitude to the blood donors who saved her life four years ago when her organs neared failure after giving birth to daughter Mara.
Martine says, ‘I would just like to say to everybody thank you, thank you so much for taking the time out your day to come and give blood. You can’t imagine how it feels – I’m just so grateful, every day I’m grateful to you all for giving blood and giving me the chance to be here, and be spending time with the ones I love.
‘You think you’re just going in to have a baby, you’ll go in, go out, it’s all happy experience. I didn’t get to take my baby home, but I eventually got home to her, so thank you. If it wasn’t for you going to give blood I wouldn’t have had that chance.’
Glasgow
Giffnock mum Louise Pennington’s seven year old daughter Freya was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia last November. She spent a month in hospital, needing ten transfusions over this time, before finally being able to go home just before Christmas.
Louise remembers one transfusion in particular. ‘One day Freya really wasn’t well from the side effects of treatment. She was lethargic, very sick, she had lots of mouth ulcers and sores. The doctor could tell, just by looking at her, she would need a blood transfusion that day.
‘Watching her it hit me, the enormity, that someone had given their blood and Freya would feel a bit better afterwards. I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude that someone had donated this for Freya to feel better. It wasn’t a tablet created in a lab, but a real person who had made her better. I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who had given up their time to donate.’
There are eight different blood groups. SNBTS aim to retain 5-7 days supply of all eight blood groups at all times. At this time, people with the blood groups A and O are particularly asked to come forward. You can see Scotland’s daily blood stock levels on scotblood.co.uk
Book an appointment to give blood by creating your online donor account at scotblood.co.uk, contacting us online, or phoning 0345 90 90 999 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm).
Following advice from the UK Health Security Agency and in the light of the rapid increase in Omicron cases, the UK Chief Medical Officers and NHS England National Medical Director have recommended to ministers that the UK COVID-19 alert level should increase from Level 3 to Level 4.
Transmission of COVID-19 is already high in the community, mainly still driven by Delta, but the emergence of Omicron adds additional and rapidly increasing risk to the public and healthcare services.
Early evidence shows that Omicron is spreading much faster than Delta and that vaccine protection against symptomatic disease from Omicron is reduced. Data on severity will become clearer over the coming weeks but hospitalisations from Omicron are already occurring and these are likely to increase rapidly.
When vaccine protection is reduced in the way that is happening with Omicron it is essential to top up that protection with a booster. Both booster vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) increase the immune response substantially and show good effectiveness although with some reduction compared to Delta.
The NHS is currently under pressure mainly driven by non-COVID-19 pressures. With a variant spreading with increased transmissibility and reduced vaccine effectiveness, we are likely to see this pressure rise soon.
It is extremely important that if you are eligible, you get your COVID-19 vaccination now – whether this be your first, second or booster dose.
People should continue take sensible precautions including ventilating rooms, using face coverings, testing regularly and isolating when symptomatic.
Chief Medical Officer for England, Professor Chris Whitty
Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland, Professor Sir Michael McBride
Chief Medical Officer for Scotland, Professor Gregor Smith
Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton
NHS England National Medical Director, Professor Stephen Powis
Prime Minister and NHS turbocharge booster programme against Omicron and launch an urgent national appeal calling for people to get jabbed
Latest data shows booster is needed to protect ourselves and the NHS against the variant
Prime Minister: “A tidal wave of Omicron is coming. Get Boosted Now.”
UK Chief Medical Officers raise UK Covid Alert Level from Level 3 to Level 4
All adults in England to be offered a booster jab by the end of the year. Devolved administrations also agree to accelerate vaccinations.
The Prime Minister, together with the NHS, last night launched an urgent national appeal calling for people to get jabbed, as he outlined plans to significantly increase NHS vaccination capacity.
It comes as the UK Chief Medical Officers increased the UK Covid Alert Level from Level 3 to Level 4 due to a rapid increase in cases of the Omicron variant.
The latest data suggests Omicron is extremely transmissible and will become the dominant variant by mid-December. Cases are now doubling every 2 to 3 days.
Data published on Friday suggests that vaccine efficacy against symptomatic infection is substantially reduced against Omicron with just two doses, but a third dose boosts protection back up to over 70%.
It is too early to draw firm conclusions about whether the Omicron variant is as virulent as Delta but even if it is more mild, a slight fall in vaccine efficacy can lead to a substantial increase in hospitalisations. Hospitalisations in South Africa have doubled in a week and are expected to rise in the UK over the next 2 weeks.
The extent of transmissibility, coupled with reduced protection after two doses and the raising of the alert level by the UK CMOs, means the Prime Minister and NHS England are today launching an urgent national Omicron appeal for the public to Get Boosted Now.
The government and NHS will rise to the challenge, working flat out to deliver jabs, save lives and ensure the NHS is not overwhelmed this winter with an influx of Omicron cases.
The vaccination programme is already delivering hundreds of thousands of boosters every day, with over 530,000 jabs in arms on Saturday alone, while catching up on elective surgeries and appointments and delivering all urgent care.
All adults will now be offered a booster jab by the New Year, bringing the target forward by one month.
Bookings through the National Booking System will be prioritised at most sites unless it is a pop up or walk-in only site. The National Booking System will now be stood up for over 18s and will take a short time to operationalise. From tomorrow adults over 30 will be able to book online, and all over 18s from Wednesday.
Some walk-in appointments will be available from tomorrow for over 18s, dependent on location. If there are long queues or all slots have been booked, people are encouraged to be patient and keep trying, or book online.
To deliver the ramped-up vaccination programme, NHS staff will need to be redeployed away from non-urgent services. This means that all primary care services will now focus on urgent clinical need and vaccines, and some non-urgent appointments and elective surgeries may be postponed until the New Year while every adult in the country is jabbed.
Without the added protection from this third dose, NHS beds will quickly fill up and the long term damage to the economy and the NHS efforts to bring down the backlog will be even greater.
The NHS will be given everything it needs to get jabs in arms as the UK responds to the Omicron variant.
The Prime Minister yesterday set out that the NHS will be given everything it needs to boost jabbing capacity, which will include:
New vaccination sites set up across the country, including mobile pop up sites
Increasing opening times for vaccination sites, to 7 days a week with more appointments early in the morning, in the evening and at weekends
50 military planning experts will help coordinate the national effort by supporting the NHS with logistics of the rollout
Reprioritising the NHS workforce to deliver as many jabs as possible
A national call for thousands more NHS volunteers
If Omicron is left unchecked the NHS is at risk of being quickly overwhelmed. Last week the Prime Minister confirmed the move to Plan B for England following its rapid spread.
Face coverings are now compulsory in most public indoor venues in England – this is already in place in Scotland – people are asked to work from home if they can from today, and from Wednesday 15 December negative lateral flow tests will be needed to enter nightclubs and large events, except for those who are double vaccinated and subject to approval from Parliament.
Every adult in the country is now being urged to book their jab as soon as possible. The vaccination programme is open to everyone, and first and second doses remain available.
The government will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations on the booster rollout, and there will be Barnett consequentials for any new funding.
Advance booking facility opened up to 30 – 39 year olds
All 30-39 year olds will be able to book their appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine booster from today (Monday) through the NHS Inform website.
Appointments must be booked at least 12 weeks after a second dose however anyone with a confirmed case of the virus since receiving a vaccine should wait four weeks from testing positive to receive their booster.
The online portal will be extended to enable 18-29 year olds to book booster vaccinations later in the week.
The portal is already open to Health and Social Care Workers, the 40-59 age groups, unpaid carers who are 16 and over and those aged 16 and over who are household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals and will continue to be available to these groups.
Anyone in earlier groups who missed their vaccination can book an appointment by calling the National Helpline on 0800 030 8013 which is open from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “Scotland already has the highest vaccination rate of all UK nations for first, second and third doses and we will continue to follow clinical advice from the JCVI on offering booster jags through age cohorts in descending order to ensure maximum benefit.
“We are working with Health Boards to maximise vaccination capacity and we’ll explore all options to accelerate the vaccination programme as quickly and safely as we possibly can.
“One of the most important things we can all do to protect ourselves and others from COVID-19 is to get our vaccinations and boosters when eligible. The vaccines we have are highly effective and safe and I urge anyone who is eligible and not yet vaccinated to book an appointment.
“The emergence of the Omicron variant means it is also particularly important that we continue to take all precautions to prevent transmission. So test regularly for the virus, particularly before socialising and meeting up with others from outside your household, wear face marks where required and open windows to improve ventilation.”
Support available to ensure care workers can get vaccines and boosters
Care home staff and those working in social care are being urged to get the booster vaccine in the fight against the spread of Omicron variant.
Scottish Government financial support is available for adult care providers who incur additional costs if employees are vaccinated in working time – so staff can do so without losing earnings or having to take annual leave.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf thanked staff for their efforts but said the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 made it more important than ever that care workers get their COVID-19 booster vaccinations, test themselves regularly and maintain infection prevention measures.
Rates of uptake of the booster vaccine are currently lower among social care staff, with 47.7% of frontline social care workers and 54.8% of care home staff having had their booster, than they are in other sectors such as frontline healthcare workers (72%).
Mr Yousaf said: “I want to thank everyone working in social care who has taken up the offer of vaccination, and has had a booster jag. But I want to encourage every single social care worker to get themselves vaccinated.
“Even if you’ve been double-vaccinated, we know your immunity against COVID-19 wanes over time. Getting your booster is even more important with the emergence of the Omicron variant. Please do so as soon as possible.
“I’m very grateful to all our social care workers for their continued resilience and ongoing commitment during what I know continues to be a very difficult time. I know staff are likely to be feeling particularly fatigued after more than 20 months of the pandemic and I want to thank you all for supporting each other and working together as we continue to navigate through this.
“However we know that the rate of take up among those working in care homes and social care is not as high as in other sectors. It is crucial, especially for those working with some of our most vulnerable citizens, that you get your booster if you have not already done so.
“Getting vaccinated is vital in protecting you, those you care for, and your friends and family.”
getting the flu vaccine
practicing good hygiene
taking antiviral medication if you meet the criteria 
