Covid in Wales: Woman, 85, receives first care home booster jab

Care home residents in Wales have started receiving their Covid-19 booster vaccinations.

Anne Webb, 85, is believed to be the first care home resident in the UK to get a third dose.

She said it "really didn't hurt," as she had the booster jab at Treorchy's Ty Ross Nursing Home, on Saturday.

The Welsh government plans to offer boosters to several groups, including over-50s and front-line healthcare staff.

Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (CTMUHB) said it was the first health board in the UK to begin giving Covid booster vaccinations to older care-home residents.

Rhondda Cynon Taf local authority, which is covered by CTMUHB, currently has the highest mortality rate over the course of the pandemic in Wales.

Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics estimate more than 20% of the people who died from Covid-19 in Wales were care home residents.

The boosters will be offered to several groups, including the over-50s and front-line healthcare workers.

Booster vaccination for other adults will be considered by the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) at a later date.

Clare Williams, deputy director of strategy at Cwm Taf Morgannwg, said it was "absolutely crucial" people took up the booster jab when offered.

"Unfortunately in Cwm Taf Morgannwg we have seen a rise in Covid cases, with the number of patients in hospital rising to numbers we haven't seen since February," she said.

"Whilst one and two doses give you a really good level of protection against Covid-19, that does actually wane over time, it reduces.

"For us, it's really important to give our community the opportunity to protect themselves."

In Cwm Taf Morgannwg the number of patients with Covid has risen by 28% in a week and hospital visits have been suspended.

The health board said all booster vaccinations given will be Pfizer, regardless of what the first two doses were.

Ms Williams said people in care homes were "some of the most vulnerable in our community, so it's only right we protect them first".

Gail Dean, the manager of Ty Ross, said the booster programme made her feel "more confident" about having visitors into the home.

"Staff working in social care have had to be family and friend to the people they look after during the pandemic, hopefully we will go from strength to strength now," she said.

On Thursday, orthopaedic nurse Ewa Syczuk, 50, became the first in Wales to get a third dose of the jab at a clinic in Denbighshire.