Hotspot community testing to start as first county Covid vaccination is given

David Brindley, who is 87, made history when he became the first Leicestershire patient to receive the new PfizerBioNTech coronavirus vaccine at Leicester General Hospital on Saturday morning.

After receiving the jab, Mr Brindley said: “Like most older people I’ve spent a lot of time self-isolating and have really missed spending time with my family.

“I’m just hoping that this means I will soon be able to give each of my grandchildren a really big hug. I’ve missed that.”

The vaccine, which is typically injected into the patient’s upper arm, was given to him by senior occupational health nurse, Cathy Brough, who has worked for the local NHS for over 20 years. Cathy said it was a proud moment that she would remember for the rest of her career.

A vaccination centre is expected to be set up in Melton next week as part of a scheme to roll-out vaccinations across the county and the nation, starting with people aged over 80, care home staff and frontline health workers.

The community testing project will see lateral flow test pop-up testing - with the capacity to return results as quick as 30 minutes - deployed in communities across Leicestershire with the highest rates.

The County Council has 16,000 new-style kits and can draw down more from the government as required.

Mike Sandys, the council’s director of public health, said: “Our plans are progressing quickly and in parallel with the government’s community testing programme.

“Our plan will see new-style kits deployed where we are seeing the very highest rates, helping to break the chain of infection.

“As you can imagine, this requires a lot of planning and we’re in the process of finalising the approach and logistics.

“We’re already ready to use the kits on a small-scale to help control outbreaks and, in early January, we aim to be able to deploy tests and teams to communities that need it most, and scale up the operation if required.”

Council leader, Nick Rushton, said: “Rates have dropped significantly over the past month – and I’d like to thank people for heeding our call.

“But we can’t let our guard down.

“And especially with Christmas approaching and a potential third wave.

“We remain at the forefront of the battle against coronavirus.

“As one of the first in the country to localise test and trace, and with the successful drop in rates in Oadby and Wigston over the summer, we have the expertise to make this work.

“When we need the community testing most, after Christmas, we’ll be ready to roll.”

The government has announced a list of 67 Tier three areas where it will roll out community testing.

Although Leicestershire is not on the list, the council has worked up its own plan without the need for government support.

With regards to Covid vaccinations, the local health authority say people will be contacted by the NHS when they become eligible and are being invited for vaccination.

Because of the complexity of the programme this will take some time, they say, and people should not be concerned if they are eligible but not invited immediately.

They do not need to contact the hospital or their GP practice, and it is important that they do not attend any NHS location speculatively in the hope of being vaccinated.

Latest government figures show Melton borough had 107 new Covid cases in the week to December 7, an increase of 19 on the previous week.

The infection rate for the borough is 209 cases per 100,000 of the population, compared to the England average of 134.

There have been a total of 1,300 positive tests in the borough up to December 11 and 48 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported here since the pandemic began.