Sharing these newsletters
To share this newsletter on social media sites such as Facebook, please visit our COVID-19 Community Champions website www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/covid-champions where you will find links to this update and previous ones at the bottom of the page. Just copy and paste the link.
Read the MK COVID-19 Champions code of conduct here.
COVID-19 snapshot
Click here to see and print the full COVID-19 snapshot as of 10 March 2021 (data reported up to 7 March 2021).
Vaccination appointments
If you’re 55 or over, or in a vulnerable group, you may have received your letter asking you to book a vaccination on the NHS website. The NHS is also starting to send out texts, and you can expect this from ‘NHSvaccine’.
If you want to book a vaccination in Milton Keynes as travel out of the city is a challenge, don’t give up if you can’t see a slot straight away. New slots are added every day. Keep trying, and you should be able to book one locally before too long.
If you’d rather wait to be vaccinated at a local GP surgery, just ignore the letter and they will get in contact with you in the coming weeks.
Good protection for older people after one dose
Public Health England (PHE) published a study on 1 March showing both the Pfizer and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective in reducing COVID-19 infections among older people aged 70 years and over from around three weeks after vaccination.
The study also found that both vaccines are more than 80% effective in preventing hospitalisation for over 80s from around 3 to 4 weeks after one dose of the vaccine.
Although the vaccine can prevent severe illness, we need to stay vigilant because it does not give 100% protection from catching the virus.
Dr Mary Ramsay, PHE Head of Immunisation said: “This adds to growing evidence showing that the vaccines are working to reduce infections and save lives. While there remains much more data to follow, this is encouraging and we are increasingly confident that vaccines are making a real difference. It is important to remember that protection is not complete and we don’t yet know how much these vaccines will reduce the risk of you passing COVID-19 onto others.”
We need to stay vigilant
This week Professor Chris Whitty, England's chief medical officer, said that even under the most optimistic set of assumptions, another surge in coronavirus cases in the UK is inevitable and a further 30,000 lives could be lost to COVID-19.
Modelling suggests “that at some point we will get a surge in virus”, he told the Science and Technology Select Committee. “This is because not everyone in the UK will have been vaccinated when restrictions are eased, therefore allowing the virus to continue circulating among susceptible pockets of the population.”
Do you have questions about the vaccination?
Have you decided against having the vaccine? We’d like to hear from you.
Send them to us and we will do our best to answer them: COVIDchampions@Milton-Keynes.gov.uk.
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Rapid testing for parents
Around one in three people who are infected with COVID-19 have no symptoms and could be spreading it without knowing it. This week, parents with children at nurseries, schools and colleges are being encouraged to take a rapid (lateral flow test) twice a week. By taking part in regular rapid testing, you’ll be protecting yourself and your loved ones, and helping everyone get back to a more normal way of life.
Click here to read the NHS guide to regular rapid COVID-19 testing for parents and find out how to get your test.
Rapid testing for workers and informal carers
Remember, rapid tests are also available for people in MK who have to leave their house to work, as well as informal carers. Just visit the MK library test centre at 555 Silbury Boulevard – there’s no need to book, parking immediately outside is free, and you’ll get your result in less than an hour.
Opening hours:
Monday 9.30 – 4.30pm
Tuesday 9.30 – 7.00pm
Wednesday 9.30am to 4.30pm
Thursday from 9.30am to 7.00pm
Friday 9.30 – 4.30pm
No-one with symptoms will be tested at this site. Anyone with one or more of these symptoms – a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, or a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – should book a test at nhs.uk/coronavirus or by calling 119.
Short video on vaccine myths
Click this link to watch a video from the World Health Organisation’s Dr Katherine O’Brien who busts some vaccine myths related to infertility, DNA and composition of vaccines. A written transcript can also be read on the site.
Lockdown Changes
The lifting of more restrictions is planned for two weeks on Monday 29 March assuming the rate of infection and the pressure on the NHS continues to reduce.
Until then:
- We can only meet one person outside
- Care home residents can receive one named visitor
- We must stay at home and not meet people inside our homes
Volunteering Matters: online event
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Stronger together: The role of volunteering beyond the pandemic
- 2pm on Thursday 25 March
- Discuss the critical role that volunteers can play in shaping and building local communities
- Register using this link.
You’ll hear from a great list of speakers, and there will be plenty of time for questions and comments. Volunteering Matters Chief Executive Paul Reddish will also be sharing the organisation’s new strategy, which explains how local communities to make change.
Elections 2021 – Are you registered?
There are Police and Crime Commissioner, Borough Council and Parish Elections scheduled for Thursday 6 May 2021. We want to make sure everybody is registered and can vote safely.
The choice on how to vote at next May’s elections is yours, you can have your say by post, in person, or by proxy. If you’re worried about going to a polling station you can apply for a postal vote. We have been sending out forms to every household in Milton Keynes.
How do I get more information?
You can visit our website at www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/elections.
New Futures
Would you like to help young people and adults whose employment has been affected by COVID-19?
MK College, in a project funded by MK Council, are looking for enthusiastic and positive people who have experience in their own career, and who are willing to give up their time to support and encourage people as they return to the workplace.
Full training is given with a Level 2 qualification.
Interested? Please use this form to express interest: Mentor Expression of Interest.
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Reporting concerns
One of the ways you can help is by reporting serious concerns about workplaces and other facilities where social distancing and other measures aren’t being followed. Intelligence like this can help us to track and control virus transmission.
Please tell us when the breach of restrictions took place, and a full address of the site if known. Your details will not be shared with the person or place you are telling us about.
You can write to us at COVIDconcern@milton-keynes.gov.uk.
We may not reply to all messages but we will read them all, and they’ll be used to gather intelligence so we can take action where needed.
Useful links
See the latest Government guidance here gov.uk/coronavirus.
Find COVID-19 Information from the NHS: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
To print and share this, please click "view it as a web page" at the top of this bulletin. This will take you to a web page with the option to print this off at the top.
To share this newsletter on social media sites such as Facebook, please visit our COVID-19 Community Champions website www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/covid-champions where you will find links to this update and previous ones at the bottom of the page. Just copy and paste the link.
Your Feedback
Have you found this email useful?
Let us know how we can improve: COVIDChampions@Milton-Keynes.gov.uk
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