Issue - meetings
Announcements
Meeting: 15/03/2021 - City Council (Item 84)
Announcements
(a) To receive announcements from the Lord Mayor, Chief Executive, Service Director for Finance or Head of Legal Services;
(b) To receive announcements from the Leader, Cabinet Members or Committee Chairs.
Additional documents:
Minutes:
Lord Mayor wished Councillors good luck in the forthcoming elections and thanked those Councillors retiring from service. Videos would be made available online prior to the City Council AGM in May to recognise those that would be retiring.
The Civic office had been awarded national awards for Civic Office National 2020 and had been commended with how the Civic Office responded to work during the national crises of 2020 and how the Civic Office had moved forward after the crisis in 2020.
Ruth Harrell, Director of Public Health provided an update in relation to COVID-19.
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Rates had continued to drop and were 26.3% and for reference at the last Council meeting on 22February Plymouth had 48%. The south west average had continued to drop and was at 32%. Nationally the rate had been 58%.
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Vaccinations progress had been going well and the National Health Service had extended vaccinations ages to 56 and 59 ranges, uptake had been 95%.
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On the 11 March 90,000 residents had one dose of their vaccination in Plymouth and the National Health Service had been working with Plymouth City Council to increase the uptake as vaccinations reached the working population. There had been a Zoom meeting scheduled to take place on 13 April to address any questions.
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The Office for Plymouth’s Public Health had been working with community champions to spread the word on vaccinations and had also looked at accessibility to recognise barriers people may face in receiving their vaccinations.
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Expansions had been made in people receiving rapid tests even though they did not have symptoms in order to pick up people who had been asymptomatic and going into workplaces.
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The government had provided a pathway out of lockdown, however it was noted that timings were not certain and the unlocking of lockdown depended on data and whether there continued to be success of the vaccination rollout in order to reduce the need of people requiring hospitalisations. New variants would be monitored which might change the risk.
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The asymptomatic testing had been a success in allowing children to return to school safely.
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There had been some concern across EU countries with people having blood clots, investigations had been underway to see if they were connected with having the vaccination. The had been millions of vaccinations, but there had been no evidence to suggest that having a vaccination and having a blood clot were correlated.
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Vaccinations to vulnerable groups such as the homeless had been successful and there had been monitoring of other vulnerable groups. It was noted that nationally BAME communities had been less likely to receive vaccinations; it was also noted that there had been statistically lower vaccination rates in deprived communities. Plans would be discussed with Devon CCG to bring the vaccine to people in order to increase the uptake.
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It was noted that a number of people would have side effects from any vaccination; 18 – 20% would have a sore arm, have a headache, feel tired, have mild chills and ... view the full minutes text for item 84 |