Staff who are in the priority groups for the COVID-19 vaccine will receive a letter addressed personally to them from Roger Harris, Corporate Director Adults, Housing and Health advising them when they are eligible for vaccination.

Vaccinations are currently being given to the groups identified as being most at risk as set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Colleagues who are unable to work from home are now being asked to get a COVID-19 test once a week, even if they don't have any symptoms.

This is to ensure the safety of colleagues whilst helping council frontline services to continue running safely and in line with government guidance. A test can be undertaken in one of the following ways:

• attending a drive-through test at the site in Crown Road, Grays, without needing to book online first. You can drop-in between 9am and 3pm on any day during the week, or at weekends.
• booking a drive-through test at the site in Corringham
• booking a walk-through test at sites in Grays, or Orsett Heath
• asking to get a test by post

Managers will continue to support staff in accessing tests. Remember, if you receive a positive test result, you and your household should immediately self-isolate. Self-isolation and other absences must be logged on Oracle Cloud. Full guidance is available on the intranet.

Rollout of COVID-19 vaccination programme

The delivery of the NHS vaccination programme in Thurrock has been moving at pace and plans are now being finalised to carry out visits to the homes of those who are in the four priority groups and are housebound.

A new large scale vaccination centre will open at the Alastair Farquharson Centre, Thurrock Community Hospital, later this week. It is the third centre in Thurrock, with local vaccination centres at Sifford Clays and Chadwell Medical Centres already in operation.

Please remember vaccinations are managed by the NHS and not Thurrock Council or the local authority where you live and are being offered to those in the highest priority groups first. There is currently no need to call anyone to arrange a vaccination and you will be contacted when it is your turn to get an appointment if you are not eligible in your role as described above.

It is important that those who have had the vaccination already remember that it can take up to three weeks after the first injection for the body to develop some protection, so you need to continue to take precautions to avoid infection and keep following hands, face, space guidance both during this period and while this remains government guidance.

A new website has launched in Essex providing all the latest information you need to know  regarding the local rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Assessing your workstation

With so many of us continuing to work from home during the pandemic, it is vital that we all take a moment to ensure our equipment setup is fit for purpose and supports our physical wellbeing. Ensuring your workstation is correctly set up at home will help you achieve a reasonable posture whilst working on a laptop or computer at home.

Take a moment today to read our Display Screen Equipment guidance and complete our working from home workstation assessment form to ensure you get the best experience. The guidance has been put together along with useful video resources and will help to reduce the risks from display screen work.

The finalists for the Staff Awards 2020 have been announced this week following more than 200 nominations for colleagues and teams at the end of last year.

Congratulations to everyone across the council who has been shortlisted and thank you to the panel of colleagues who privately scored each nomination to confirm who the finalists are and who the winners will be.

The winners will be announced during the special week of celebration events beginning on Monday 22 February. Two awards will be presented via Microsoft Teams each day throughout the week, with winners being announced on the intranet homepage as each ceremony comes to a close. More details will be shared soon, including what awards will be presented on which days. Be sure to congratulate finalists who you know when you see them at your next Teams meeting.

This week aims to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health. 

Around three children in every primary school class has a mental health problem - and many more struggle with challenges, from bullying to bereavement. This year's theme is 'express yourself‘, and focuses on finding ways to share feelings, thoughts or ideas through creativity. 

Help, advice and information about the services available for young people can be found at thurrock.gov.uk. More information can be found online at childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk, with a number of free resources also available for parents, carers and schools to download.

February is LGBT+ History Month which focuses on the celebration and recognition of LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, plus) people, culture and history. It has been celebrated every year in the UK since 2005 with this year's theme being 'body, mind and spirit'.

Read a notice by our Staff Networks about marking the month this year and a reflection on LGBT+ lives in the media, including the TV show 'It's a Sin' and stories from Paul O'Grady.