COVID-19 Community Champions update - 19 March

Milton Keynes City Council sent this bulletin at 19-03-2021 02:08 PM GMT

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19 March

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 17 March 2021 (data reported up to 14 March 2021).

Current restrictions

Until further restrictions are lifted by Government (expected to be 29 March) the current rules are:

We can only meet one person outside
Care home residents can have one nominated visitor
We must stay at home and not meet people inside our homes

Astra Zeneca vaccine confirmed safe and effective

This week the European Medicines Agency (EMA) declared the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine safe and effective. It praised the vaccine benefits of protecting people from COVID-19 and its associated risks of serious illness and deaths. This follows a temporary suspension in some countries’ use of the vaccine following concerns that it may cause blood clots. The World Health Organisation (WHO) also emphasised that there is currently no evidence linking the vaccine to blood clots and recommend that countries continue using it.

Have blood clots happened after the vaccine?

There are usually about 3,000 cases of blood clots a month in the UK. In an analysis of 10 million doses given in the UK there were 5 cases of a blood clot, and overall, there have been 37 clots from 17 million doses given (data analysis at 8 March.)

This is fewer than the normal rate of 1 – 2 per 1,000 and is significantly less than the risk of having a blood clot if infected with COVID-19.

Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford vaccine group who developed the AstraZeneca jab, said there was "very reassuring evidence that there is no increase in a blood clot phenomenon here in the UK, where most of the doses in Europe been given so far".

How are adverse reactions recorded?

The Yellow Card is a system where adverse reactions to the vaccine are recorded and analysed. Prof Paul Hunter, gives more information here.

Hear from MK’s own Dr Hamid Manji, consultant in anaesthetics and intensive care at MK University Hospital on how the vaccination is safe and important here. More than 90% of the staff at the hospital have so far had their vaccination.

Vaccine availability

The EU has announced that, to ensure a fair distribution of vaccines to all countries, they may reduce the exportation of the vaccine to countries such as the UK who have the largest contracts.

The number of Covid-19 vaccine doses on order is enough to fully inoculate the UK's entire population twice: 40 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, and 17 million doses from Moderna (expected later in April.)

More vaccinations are being ordered including a further 100 million doses of the Valneva vaccine, which is being manufactured in Scotland. The Valneva vaccine is still being assessed in drug trials. If it is approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) 60 million doses could start to be delivered to the UK by the second half of 2021, with the remaining 40 million being delivered in 2022.

A further three vaccines are either in clinical trials or awaiting MHRA approval; Novavax (60 million doses, Janssen (30 million doses) and GSK (60m doses).

The media have reported some production delays which would lead to some people waiting slightly longer for their vaccination, although it is not expected to change the overall target of offering the first dose to over 50s by 15 April and to all adults by the end of July. Everyone who has an appointment for their first or second dose will receive their vaccine.

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.

Dedicate a tree to your loved one

The Forest of Memories is a project aiming to plant a network of Memorial Forests around the UK. They will plant, at a minimum, a tree for every life lost during the pandemic to grow in honour of precious memories. Anyone can dedicate a tree at no cost to any loved one they have lost.

Find out more at https://theforestofmemories.com/.

Tuesday 23 March is the national Day of Reflection, which is one year on from the first UK lockdown, and many people are choosing this day to make a dedication.

Free online bereavement support groups

The ‘gentlespaces’ bereavement groups are being held virtually via zoom. They are run by the MK Mission Partnership, find out more at https://missionpartnership.org.uk/.

Businesses: apply for grants by 31 March

Local businesses who have been significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic are welcome to apply for financial support – but the deadline for current grant applications is fast approaching on 31 March 2021.

Since the pandemic began, MK Council has paid nearly 15,000 grants totalling £77m to help MK businesses. Businesses yet to apply for support should do so immediately, visiting www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/business for links to the application pages.

Applications for new funding schemes called ‘restart grants’ can then be made from 1 April, when details will be added to the council website.

2021 Census: do you need help?

Support is available to anyone finding completing the Census challenging:

help over the phone - call 0800 141 2021
a paper version of the questionnaire, if you prefer, can be ordered online or by calling 0800 876 6276
online information and web chat at census.gov.uk
social media on Twitter @Census_MK and @Census2021
online guidance and support in many languages or by calling the language helpline on 0800 587 2021
accessible census guidance, for example, in braille, large print and easy-read

In Milton Keynes we also have a Census Support Centre being run by Great Linford Parish Council. Anyone can call or email to make a free appointment with them. They can either talk you through the census on the phone, or you can visit them and they will help you complete it online, in a Covid-safe way.

To book an appointment call 01908 606613 or email glpc@great-linford.gov.uk
The location is Great Linford House, 1 St Leger Court, Milton Keynes. MK14 5HA.
Current information about opening times and services is available here https://census.gov.uk/en/find-a-support-centre/.

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.

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/

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Your Feedback

Have you found this email useful?

Let us know how we can improve: COVIDChampions@Milton-Keynes.gov.uk