CORONAVIRUS: Trust chief hopes all Lincolnshire hospital staff will be vaccinated within four months

Around 15 per cent - 1,200 - of the United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) staff should be vaccinated by the middle of next month, with the other 6,800 hopefully completed by the end of March

Andrew Morgan, CEO of ULHT, told Lincolnshire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee today:: “We want to be able to have vaccinated all of the NHS staff in the system by the end of March.”

However, he added: “There’s a lot of planning that needs to happen to be able to make that a reality.”

Mr Morgan stressed to councillors that these were aspirations, not fact.

Some 1,200 high risk staff at ULHT should recive the vaccine by the middle of January 2021, with the remaining 6,800 staff due by the end of March.

Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff, as well as other staff at a high risk exposure to coronavirus will be prioritised for the vaccine.

Data shows that these groups are more susceptible to the health risks of coronavirus.

So far, 81% of front-line staff have been vaccinated against flu for a reinforced protection during the winter season.

Nationally, the BBC reported more than 130,000 people have been vaccinated against coronavirus in the first week of the UK’s vaccination programme.

Localised figures have not yet been disclosed by NHS England.

Independent South Holland Councillor Christopher Brewis said he finds it “mind-boggling” that data cannot be revealed about how many vaccines have been given locally.

He suspected the majority of the population would not receive it until March 2022.

Andrew Morgan reiterated that it is “difficult to be precise” of the vaccine rollout timescale, and that he “can’t be held to that” due to vaccine availability.

More large vaccination centres are set to open in the next few weeks across Lincolnshire, but no date is set.

Grantham and Louth already have vaccination centres open.