What's happening in West Lancs?

• The number of Covid cases in West Lancs over the last 7 days has risen by 22%.

• West Lancs hospital admissions have also risen but are still significantly below the peak of January this year.

• West Lancs is not yet seeing the rapid growth being experienced in some other areas of the UK.

• See the situation in your postcode here.

What's happening in UK?

Cases

• This week saw a sudden increase in the number of daily covid cases due to the Omicron variant.  Both Wednesday and Thursday saw the highest number of cases so far in the pandemic – 78,610 and 88,376 cases respectively. 
• The previous record was 68,053 on 8 January
• For context, the average number of daily covid cases has been around the 40,000 mark since mid July.
• See more information here

Hospital admissions

• We are heading into unknown territory where the number of cases is likely to be higher than we’ve seen throughout the pandemic but the effect on hospitalisations is unclear.
• Hospital admissions have started to rise but remain far below the peak of nearly 40,000 people back in January.

• There is always a lag of a couple of weeks between cases rising and people needing to go to hospital, so we won't know until just after Christmas how much pressure the NHS will be under from the current high case numbers.

• Every adult will be offered a booster jab by end of December, to help fight the more transmittable Omicron variant.

• Scientists have warned that two doses of a Covid vaccine are not enough to stop people catching the Omicron variant, but a booster dose gives over 70% protection from the new variant.

• The UK Health Security Agency has also said that vaccines are still likely to offer good protection against severe Covid that needs hospital treatment.

• more than 20 million people have had their boosters - over half of all adults and three-quarters of eligible over-50s 
• huge number of people are now booking their jabs.  On Monday, over one million booster appointments were booked in just over 24 hours.

Who can get a covid vaccination?

• Everyone over 16 can get a 1^st and 2^nd dose
• Everyone over 18 can also get a booster
• Currently 12-15 year olds can get a 1^st dose, but from Monday can get a 2^nd dose

Check all eligibility here 

1. Book an appointment online

You don’t have to wait to be invited by your GP or NHS.

Everyone aged 12 and over can make an appointment by

• Booking online here
• Calling free phone 119

You’ll be offered currently available appointments at vaccination clinics near to you. New appointments are being added all the time - so if you can’t find a time or location that suits you, please keep checking back.

2. Find your nearest drop-in clinic

Anyone aged 16 and over can now get vaccinated at a drop-in clinic - without a pre-booked appointment.

Find nearest vaccine drop-in clinics on the NHS website.

This will show you all of the permanent clinic sites where you can walk in for a jab.

3. Check if your GP is running a clinic

Many West Lancs GPs are offering covid vaccine clinics over the next few weeks – including Excel Primary Care, Tarleton Group Practice, Stanley Court Surgery, Ormskirk Medical Practice, Aughton Surgery, Parkgate and The Elms.

If you are a patient with a local GP, please check their social media for details (but avoid phoning as phone lines are extremely busy)

4. Additional local drop-in clinics

Additional walk-in sessions are happening at temporary 'pop-up' clinics in West Lancs.

The ones that we know about are listed below but more are being added over the next few weeks.

Keep checking West Lancs CCG’s social media and webpage for the most up to date information: www.westlancashireccg.nhs.uk/popupclinics/

You will need to self-isolate and get a PCR test here.

Remember to get a PCR test if you are symptomatic and not a lateral flow test.

If you don’t have symptoms

Anyone in West Lancashire is eligible to free lateral flow tests for themselves and their families to use twice a week.

You can either:

• Collect FREE tests from a symptom free local collection site to use at home later. Find your nearest collection point here.  Or

• Order FREE home testing kits online to be delivered to your home, here.

If you test positive

The Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme is still available and will be in place for eligible West Lancs residents until 31 March 2022. 

If you're isolating and on a low income, unable to work from home, and facing financial hardship then you could be entitled: www.westlancs.gov.uk/more/emergencies/coronavirus/test-and-trace-support-payment.aspx

As the booster campaign steps up, more volunteers are urgently needed to help at the vaccination centres.

Vaccination centres rely heavily on volunteers providing marshalling in buildings and car parks to help people feel safe and confident when attending for their appointments.

A minimum commitment of a couple of hours a week is needed.

You will get full training and travel costs.

Find out more and sign up here.

Can you help us get the word out?

We are working with West Lancashire Borough Council to get accurate information into the heart of communities and would be grateful if you could pass this on to your networks.

Please join in these efforts by cascading these messages on to your work colleagues, friends and families using the share buttons below: