In an operational guidance document released yesterday (August 4), the Department of Health and Social Care (DH) wrote that care home workers should receive their first dose by September 16 in order to be fully vaccinated by November 11.

“Registered persons (or those acting on behalf of the registered person) will have to check that all persons wishing to enter the care home have received a full course of vaccination, unless they are exempt. This includes checking, for example, care home staff, health care professionals, Care Quality Commission inspectors, tradespeople, hairdressers and beauticians,” according to the guidance.

The new regulations making COVID-19 vaccinations a requirement for anyone working in a care home were laid before Parliament on June 22 and were introduced on July 22, the DH wrote.

A DH spokesperson confirmed to C+D yesterday that only pharmacists who have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed to enter care homes from November 11.

No checks before November 11

The spokesperson clarified that there will be no checks to see if pharmacists visiting care homes in the interim period had received their first dose, but they will not be allowed to enter if they cannot demonstrate they are fully vaccinated by November 11.

NHS England and Improvement (NHSE&I) is expected to “issue specific guidance for healthcare professionals who visit care homes so that they are aware of the implications of the regulations”, the DH stated in its guidance.

Earlier this week, NHSE&I confirmed that pharmacists will be able to administer the flu vaccine to both care home staff and residents when they visit care homes.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) suggested that any potential booster programme should begin in September this year, NHSE&I wrote in a letter to contractors on July 1.

The JCVI interim advice also said that those living in residential care homes and frontline health workers should be among those who are prioritised for vaccination during this winter's COVID-19 booster programme.

NHSE&I medical director for primary care Nikita Kanani, who also spoke during a webinar on the booster programme last month (July 15), said that NHSE&I remains supportive of healthcare professionals administering flu and COVID-19 vaccines at the same appointment “as long as the JCVI continues to support it”.

“What we’re trying to do is work from the fact that we […] plan [for] the most likely scenarios, and I ask you to do that as well. We want you to be able to co-administer as much as possible, as long as it feels doable, but everything will not be doable to everyone at the same time,” Dr Kanani said.