Oxford vaccine rollout begins as hospitals pushed to brink

LONDON: GPs in England are starting the mass rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine as hospitals across the UK face rising numbers of seriously ill patients.

The jabs are being delivered to sites across the country as the government commits to offering a vaccine to more than 13 million people in the top four priority groups by mid-February.

It comes as NHS trusts in London are on the verge of being overwhelmed, according to leaked health service documents, while other trusts are rapidly turning normal wards into intensive care units (ICUs).

As of January 4, there were 30,451 people in UK hospitals with coronavirus, much higher than the April 12 peak of 21,684. Exhausted staff in one of England’s largest hospitals have told the PA news agency they are working “to the limit” of their ability.

PA was granted rare access to St George’s Hospital in Tooting, south London, where the trust has had to vastly expand intensive care capacity and move under-qualified staff to high dependency roles.

Medical registrar Omome Etomi said it is impossible to predict the profile of patients brought in for care—and whether they will survive.

The 28-year-old said: “We are seeing patients across the spectrum, from their 20s right up to people in their 80s and 90s. It’s so unpredictable – I can’t tell you who’s going to be unwell and not, who’s going to improve and go home and who’s going to have a longer stay in ITU (intensive care or high dependency).”

Dr Mark Haden, an emergency department consultant, said the rising number of very sick patients is having a huge impact on staff.

“Everyone’s stress levels are higher than usual,” he said. “Everyone is working to the limit, to the threshold of what they’re able to. The hospital bed occupancy is very, very high, it has lots of Covid patients as inpatients at the moment. It’s very stressful for staff and that is starting to show.”

Earlier, Rupert Pearse, professor of intensive care medicine and a consultant at the Royal London, said his own ICU staff are having to care for far more sick patients as he urged the public to heed the “stay at home” lockdown message. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there would usually be one fully-trained ICU nurse to one ICU patient but staff are becoming increasingly stretched.”

Speaking on behalf of the Intensive Care Society, he said the problems are not just in London, but in other hospitals across the UK, and are not limited to ICU wards.

Prof Pearse said that unless people take the lockdown seriously, the impact on healthcare across the country “could be catastrophic”.

According to an NHS England Zoom presentation seen by the Health Service Journal (HSJ), hospital capacity in London will not be enough for the expected rise in patients in the coming weeks.

The data showed that, even if the number of Covid patients grows at the lowest rate considered likely, and measures to manage demand and increase capacity, including opening the capital’s Nightingale hospital, are successful, the NHS in London will be short of nearly 2,000 general and acute (G&A) and intensive care beds by January 19. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is easy to administer given it can be stored at normal fridge temperatures, unlike the Pfizer jab which requires storage at minus 70C.

Seven mass-vaccination centres will also open next week in London, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Surrey and Stevenage.