BETSI Cadwaladr University Health Board's (BCUHB) West Area Director has confirmed that 120,516 people in their region have received a Covid-19 booster jab so far.

Ffion Johnstone provided an update on Covid-19 vaccinations on Wednesday, November 10.

The 120,156 people who have received their booster jabs represent 33.7 per cent of those who will become eligible over the course of the programme.

Booster jabs are being given at a rate of around 3,000 per day and BCUHB say they remain committed to inviting 90 per cent of those eligible by mid-December.

Booster appointments are being sent by post in chronological order at least six months after the date the second dose was given, not necessarily from the oldest to the youngest.

Six months is simply the minimum qualifying gap between the second dose and the booster.

Here is what other information the update provided to residents ...

MODERNA

From next week onwards, BCUHB will begin using the Moderna vaccine.

Like Pfizer, Moderna is an mRNA vaccine, and it has been safely administered to millions of people across the UK and around the world.

Moderna has been approved by the UK regulator, the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as a safe and highly effective vaccine for people aged 12 and over.

At this stage, Moderna will only be offered at COVID-19 Vaccination Centres.

Because the Moderna vaccine has similar transportation, storage and preparation requirements to the Pfizer vaccine, it will not be possible for many GP Practices to administer it.

First and second doses

It’s still not too late to come forward for a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. It’s also vitally important that those who have had their first dose receive their second, eight weeks later, in order to receive the very best protection.

First and second doses can only be booked through COVID-19 Vaccination Contact Centre telephone number: 03000 840004.

The lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm and Saturday to Sunday, 9am to 2pm.

Third doses for those who are immunosuppressed

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) have previously announced that individuals who are immunosuppressed should receive a third primary dose of vaccination.

BCUHB have been working closely with clinicians to identify relevant individuals and determine whether a third or booster dose needs to be administered at a specific point within their treatment cycles, or whether there is a need to delay medication in order to ensure the greatest positive immune response to the vaccine.

The majority of those identified do not need specific timing and they will receive a letter of appointment for their third primary dose.

If they have already had a booster, this will be amended on their record to a third primary dose and they will be invited for a booster at least six months later.

Recruitment

BCUHB are continually looking to recruit new staff and have had a very positive response to their latest recruitment drive, with hundreds of people expressing an interest in joining their teams.

Vaccination venues

BCUHB say they would love to offer a COVID-19 Vaccination Centre in every town and village in North Wales in order to reduce the distance people have to travel to receive their booster jab.

However, they are unable to do this for the following reasons:

  • Workforce to administer jabs has reduced by around 50 per cent compared to the initial rollout. This is largely because fewer GP Practices are able to take part due to unprecedented demand facing primary care.
  • The requirement from the JCVI to move from the AstraZeneca vaccine to Pfizer and Moderna has increased appointment lengths by 400 per cent to 20+ minutes, due to the need for a 15 observation period after the dose is received.
  • Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have a short usage window and very specific transportation, storage and preparation requirements, which adds to the complexities of delivering these vaccines across multiple sites

Ffion Johnstone's statement read: "We are continuing to work very hard to recruit additional staff as well as using our existing workforce to deliver vaccines as close to people’s homes as we possibly can. We are also currently investigating the use of mobile units which will help us hold pop-up clinics.

"We recognise that this is not a perfect situation and we really appreciate people’s patience and understanding.