A CARE home manager says residents have been left “worried and very scared” by the on-going wait to receive a vaccination against Covid-19.

Hannah Futcher said residents at Springfield Residential and Nursing Homes, of Rectory Road, Copford Green, have been waiting for a date for more than two weeks, despite assurances it would be delivered “within the next five days”.

It is understood more than 400 care home residents have so far received the vaccine out of approximately 3,700 in north east Essex, however, this figures has increased in recent days as the roll out gathers pace.

But Mrs Futcher said delays for her residents had left them scared about catching the virulent strain of coronavirus.

Yesterday, she finally received the long-awaited confirmation her residents will receive their vaccinations on Saturday - one day before the NHS’ care home vaccinations deadline.

Mrs Futcher said: “The Government keeps saying the care homes are getting the vaccination and all these people will be protected but it simply hasn’t been true for us.

“We supplied the paperwork that had been asked for several times, undertaken the required risk assessments and put into place every safety measure necessary."

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She added: “The residents see the news reporting care homes are top of the list, that they’re all getting vaccinated. This simply isn’t true.

“With the new, more infectious strain, the likelihood is we will get Covid in this building.

“We look at our test results every week just praying no-one tests positive.

“The residents are worried and very scared about what it entails for them should they catch it.”

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Mrs Futcher added: “The last year has been absolutely horrific and now this light at the end of the tunnel keeps getting pushed further and further back.

Gazette:

“The residents have only been able to have window visits from relatives and friends, but now even this has been taken away from them as it’s not deemed essential travel.

“They don’t see anybody outside of these walls.

“The Government is quick to say how magnificent a job it is doing but there’s no real concern for how we’ve coped after all these months.

“Just when we think we’re getting there, it’s like they’re dangling a carrot in front of us and pulling it away, we never get there.”

Sir Bernard Jenkin, Harwich and North Essex’s MP, said rolling out Covid-19 vaccinations to care home residents is a challenging process due to their immobility and other health complications such as dementia.

Colchester’s MP Will Quince has also said the NHS is vaccinating care home residents as quickly as possible.

He pointed out north Essex has a lot of care homes with 179 of the 400 homes in the county.