'We are ready to go with Covid-19 vaccine in Northamptonshire as and when it is ready'

Hi, I hope your week is going well so far. Even though it’s November, the sun is in the sky and remarkably the weather seems to be smiling down on Northamptonshire

while we’re under national restrictions so hopefully people are managing to get out for some exercise during this time.

There is also tremendous news in the air for the trialling, testing and rolling out of an effective COVID-19 vaccine. Hundreds of professionals and an army of volunteers are busy behind the scenes preparing for its arrival. Locally we’re planning to be able to deliver the vaccine from the 2nd of December if the vaccine is ready in time. The date the vaccine will be made available is not set in stone but we know it’s on its way and we will be ready to deliver - which gives us good reason to celebrate.

In the meantime, there are things we can all do to prepare and stay safe while we wait. Evidence shows a time lag may be necessary between having the flu jab and the COVID-19 injection. So everyone who is eligible, especially pregnant women who haven’t come forward yet this year, please book your flu jabs with your GP surgery as soon as you can. The over 50s are now also eligible for a flu jab however GP practices will be contacting this group as and when they get additional stock, so please wait for them to contact you – they will do as soon as possible.

On Monday evening Boris announced the country will be returning to a more robust ‘three tier system’ when the second lockdown finishes on the 2nd December. By the time this column is published we will hopefully know which tier we are in but, in the absence of a crystal ball, all I can share right now are details of what we can all do to help keep the numbers of positive cases down, regardless of the tier we end up in.

No matter what, we all need to make sure we don’t get ‘COVID-19 complacent.’ We must protect our NHS and our over 60s. Our mums, dads, grandmothers, grandfathers and friends over that age tend to be at greater risk of more severe disease and we are already seeing coronavirus hospital related admissions in Northamptonshire.

I know all our lives are interwoven but if you can’t minimise your contact with the over 60s, perhaps due to caring responsibilities, then I urge you to minimise your contact elsewhere. If you must go out then we all must practise COVID-19 safe behaviour or we could take the virus back to our loved ones at home.

When you leave the house and travel on buses, trains or share cars; be super alert to the dangers of transmission. Wearing a face mask, using hand sanitizer or washing hands regularly and keeping a safe distance at all times are all essential practices if we are to prevent further transmission. Practise these behaviours consistently everywhere you go and you will be reducing the risk to yourself and others.

To quote Boris (that’s a first for me!) ‘Tis the season to be jolly and also the season to be jolly careful.’ Despite hope, and we now do have hope that the wonders of science will help us get back to some sort of normality by spring next year, we are still faced with a very bleak winter ahead.

Friday’s data revealed 1,642 of our fellow residents had tested positive with COVID-19 since the week before – nearly nine times higher than the weekly averages seen last month, so we have a lot still to do to get the rate of infection down in the county, especially if we hope to exit lockdown in a low tier.

As I have said many a time, lockdowns, vaccinations, rapid tests and all of the other approaches we have (or will have) to battle COVID-19 are exciting and will add value, but none of them replace the need to remember the basic measures to avoid transmission of infection – washing your hands, covering your face, keeping your space.

I will update you on the changes next week but in the meantime - stay safe and together we will beat this!

Lucy Wightman, director of health Northamptonshire