Progress at a glance

This week we marked one year on from the first lockdown in England, on 23 March 2020. It is also 15 weeks since the COVID-19 vaccination programme was launched. In that time significant progress has been made and data published today shows that more than 800,000 people in Sussex have now been vaccinated.

Yesterday the Sussex COVID-19 Vaccination Programme was recognised for the hard work and dedication of its teams at Prime Minister's Question Time.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and MP for Wealden Nus Ghani thanked ICS System team for making significant progress in rolling out the vaccination across our communities. The progress to date is down to the efforts of all of the teams involved, primary care, community, hospital teams and CCG - thank you to you all.

Looking forward over the coming days and weeks, vaccination teams across our area remain focused on reaching people in the nine priority eligible groups and ensuring that everyone in these groups has the opportunity to receive their vaccination.

Since the programme started, vaccination services have worked flexibly to respond to the supply of the vaccine, and we will continue to do so during April when nationally the supply of vaccine will be constrained.

If anyone is eligible and has not yet had their vaccination, please use the national booking service website, call 119 or contact your GP led local vaccination service to book your appointment as soon as possible.

See the full breakdown of data published today which includes information by CCG area, local authority and MP Constituency.

Diverse Communities

As part of our work to engage with our diverse communities across West Sussex, we have new materials translated in a range of languages to encourage people to have their vaccination.

We are working directly with community groups and our local authority partners, and we hope that supportive materials can help to reduce hesitancy and address any barriers to the vaccination. The newly translated materials include posters in eight languages such as Farsi, Bengali, and Arabic to encourage anyone eligible who has not yet had their vaccination to come forward.

All of our translated materials are available on our website. Please use these materials and share them in your communities.

Language support available at all vaccination services

We have received a number of enquiries this week about access to language support at vaccination centres and services. If you do not speak English as your first language, interpreting support is available at all of our vaccination sites and can be easily arranged to support you during your appointment.

Face to face interpreting is available and can be requested from local organisations including Vandu and Sussex Interpreting Services. They can be contacted using the details below:

Vandu - 01273 473986 / info@vandu.co.uk Sussex Interpreting Services: 01273 702005 / info@sussexinterpreting.org.uk Telephone interpreting is also available on site at all services.

If you are d/Deaf, face to face British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting is also available by self-referral from Action Deafness and a video relay service using Signlive is available at all GP led local vaccination services, pharmacy led services and the vaccination centres.

Worthing

Three special drop-in vaccination clinics will be taking place over Saturday and Sunday (27 and 28 March) to further increase the number of people in Worthing who have received their vaccination.

To date more than 60,000 vaccinations have been delivered to residents in Worthing, including more than 58,000 first doses. But the GP practice teams are keen to make sure that no one misses out.

This means people aged 50 and over, are clinically extremely vulnerable, have an underlying health condition such as diabetes or are an unpaid carer will be able to attend the sessions without needing to book this coming weekend.

To make it as easy as possible, three dropin clinics have been arranged.

If you are eligible and registered with Lime Tree and Barn: Saturday 27 March from 9am to 3pm at Durrington Health Centre
If you are registered with Cornerways, Selden Medical Centre, Strand Medical Group and Worthing Medical Group: Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 March from 9am to 3pm at Strand Medical Centre

Please note this is only for people currently eligible for the vaccination and are for first dose vaccinations only.

New materials available to help reach out across our communities

As part of our work to engage with our diverse communities across West Sussex, we have new materials translated in a range of languages to encourage people to have their vaccination. We are working directly with community groups and our local authority partners, and we hope that supportive materials can help to reduce hesitancy and address any barriers to the vaccination.

The newly translated materials include posters in eight languages such as Farsi, Bengali, and Arabic to encourage anyone eligible who has not yet had their vaccination to come forward. All of our translated materials are available on our website. Please use these materials and share them in your communities.

Reminder about transport scheme to support people to get to appointments

West Sussex residents who have no means to get to their COVID-19 vaccination appointment are now able to book a free return journey to help them attend. 

To book free travel please book your vaccination appointment first and then call: 01444 275 008 to speak to a travel coordinator. The booking service is available between 10:00-13:00 and 14:00-17:00 Monday to Friday. 
Once you are through to a travel coordinator you will be asked the following questions:

• Do you have access to transport to attend your vaccine appointment?
• Do you have a family member, friend or carer who can help with transport? They do not have to be in your bubble as per government guidelines.

If both of these options are not available the travel coordinator will arrange transport for you, including any additional needs such as wheelchair-friendly vehicles. All transport providers have signed up to a COVID-19 safety policy to ensure that all precautions are in place for a safe journey.

Check before you share - new campaign to tackle false information

When false information is shared, it can take on a life of its own and have serious consequences. Recently, there has been a lot of false information about the COVID-19 vaccine.
A new campaign from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport's aims to tackle this and encourage people to think twice about the information they are sharing. The campaign provides simple tips to help to empower communities with the resources they need to help stop the spread of misinformation. Help us to share the message - the toolkit includes videos, animations and quotes encouraging people to fact-check information before sharing online.
The NHS is the best source of info about the covid vaccine - visit our Fact Checker.