You may be wondering whether restrictions on visiting care homes can be eased now that official figures have just confirmed that the NHS has offered the COVID-19 vaccine to residents at every eligible care home with older residents across England.
In a small number of cases however a severe outbreak of COVID-19 will have prevented a team from visiting but any care home yet to be visited for a vaccination clinic is going to have one booked in as soon as it is deemed safe by local public health protection clinicians to do so. Vaccination staff are also returning to homes that have been covered to jab any resident who was unable to have it during the previous visit because they had recently had COVID or for other clinical reasons.
Even if you or the person you’re visiting have had your COVID-19 vaccination, you must still follow guidance to keep yourself, your loved ones and the other people living and working in the care home as safe as possible.It is still necessary to ensure that care homes are encouraged and supported to provide safe visiting opportunities for care home residents.
Sheffield City Council issued a statement and guidance last month on visiting care homes safely on SheffNews .
This includes a link to the council’s website providing information about the existing local guidance on on visiting in care homes , which will be updated with any changes as the situation hopefully improves.