Efforts to vaccinate care workers should be stepped up, industry leaders said as the Government claimed a “crucial milestone” had been reached with all older care home residents in England offered a jab.
NHS England said figures are expected to show on Monday that people living at more than 10,000 care homes with older residents had been offered their first vaccine doses, meeting the deadline set by Boris Johnson.
A “small remainder” were said to have had their visits deferred for safety reasons during a local outbreak but these will be visited “as soon as NHS staff are allowed to do so”.
Twenty four elderly residents have died after an outbreak of Covid-19 at a Hampshire care home, while a second care home tragedy in the Midlands has left nine dead.
The residents at Pemberley House care home, Basingstoke, died in the last few weeks following the virus outbreak earlier this month, in what is one of the worst known outbreaks in a care home in England.
In a similar tragedy, nine elderly residents have died at Seagrave House care home in Corby, Northamptonshire, and it is feared dozens more are fighting infections.
Both care homes are operated by Avery Healthcare, with the company saying staff were deeply saddened by the deaths following the Basingstoke outbreak.
Care home coronavirus deaths have nearly tripled in a fortnight, damning official figures show as the disease makes a deadly resurgence in the sector.
The UK s national statistics body found 1,705 care home residents died from the virus in the week ending January 22, up from 661 a fortnight ago.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) also revealed care home residents make up almost a third of all Covid-19 fatalities.
There were 94,971 total deaths from the virus in England and Wales as of January 15, according to the ONS, 30,851 of which were in care homes (32.4 per cent).
Just 75 per cent of care home residents have been vaccinated against Covid, despite the vaccination scheme launching seven weeks ago.