Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many patients recovering from COVID-19 have been discharged from hospitals to hotels.
Answered by Lord Bethell
This data is not held centrally. NHS England and NHS Improvement will be evaluating the use of this approach over the coming weeks.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many hotels are accommodating patients who have been discharged from hospital whilst recovering from COVID-19; and where any such hotels are located.
Answered by Lord Bethell
This data is not held centrally. NHS England and NHS Improvement will be evaluating the use of this approach over the coming weeks.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether UK citizens will be given a choice of COVID-19 vaccine.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Both vaccines give very high protection against severe disease, which is the primary aim of the first phase of the programme, and both vaccines have good safety profiles. The logistical challenges posed by the storage and distribution requirements for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine mean that in some populations, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is the only vaccine which can be deployed rapidly, and without substantial vaccine wastage. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation does not advise a preference for either vaccine in any specific population. For operational and programmatic reasons, such as to enable more extensive and timely vaccine coverage, one vaccine may be offered in certain settings in preference over another vaccine.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to rollout the combined Oxford/AstraZeneca Sputnik V vaccine, and on what scale, in the event that tests show that these vaccines can be combined successfully.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The science is currently uncertain about whether using a mixed schedule of vaccines could produce an even better immune response; and when a booster dose might be needed. For this reason, we will begin a series of trials to test various combinations of vaccines and to test booster doses. These trials do not currently include the combined Oxford/AstraZeneca Sputnik V vaccine.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to re-prioritise the COVID-19 vaccination schedule to take into account those in vulnerable groups who have already contracted COVID-19 and therefore may have a level of immunity.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that individuals eligible for vaccination in the first phase of the COVID-19 programme should be offered a vaccine, irrespective of prior infection.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what care the NHS provides to patients discharged from hospitals to hotels whilst recovering from COVID-19; and how many NHS staff are providing that support.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Any person transferring to a hotel from a hospital will do so under the normal discharge planning processes. As part of those processes a care and support plan is put in place and this will vary by individual.
The care and support provided to individuals in a hotel can be provided through a combination of unpaid and paid carers, Care Quality Commission registered domiciliary care providers, virtual ward approaches, or utilising capacity of providers on the NHS Shared Business Services Patient Discharge Service Framework.
National Health Service staffing arrangements are the responsibility of local NHS organisations and the numbers of staff working in hotels will be determined by local need and therefore is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of data from Israel on the effectiveness of the single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, and of their decision to delay giving a second vaccine dose to people for up to 12 weeks.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has reviewed headline data from Israel on vaccine effect, particularly the vaccine effectiveness estimate at day 14 after the first dose. The JCVI concluded that the results are preliminary and there is a need for greater clarity, including full information on the data used, before further consideration or comment. The JCVI will review this data carefully once the full study details are released.
The JCVI continues to recommend that as many people on the JCVI priority list as possible should be offered a first vaccine dose as the initial priority. One dose of the vaccine offers important protection until the second dose can be administered. All individuals will subsequently receive a second dose in due course.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to include (1) community, and (2) independent, pharmacies in their plans for the administering of COVID-19 vaccines.
Answered by Lord Bethell
Some pharmacists and members of their team are already working with general practitioners to deliver the vaccine in many areas of the country and, as more supply becomes available, community pharmacies, including independent pharmacies, will play a major role in the programme. Some pharmacies have started to offer COVID-19 vaccinations from 11 January.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any link between poor air quality in city centres and any increase in (1) COVID-19, and (2) respiratory diseases, in urban areas.
Answered by Lord Bethell
There is currently no clear evidence to suggest that air pollution has a direct link to the spread or severity of COVID-19. Public Health England (PHE) and Government departments are continuously reviewing whether air pollution may influence the health impact of COVID-19.
PHE has made no specific estimation of the impact of air pollution on respiratory disease in urban areas in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord Truscott (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to put all of the NHS Nightingale hospitals into operation so that patients with COVID-19 can be admitted.
Answered by Lord Bethell
The Nightingale hospitals support the National Health Service in a number of different ways depending on the need of the local communities, therefore they also operate on different clinical models.
Patients are currently being treated in Nightingale hospitals in Manchester, Exeter, Bristol and Harrogate. With the rise in Covid-19 inpatient numbers, the remaining Nightingale hospitals are being readied to admit patients once again should they be needed.