Oxfordshire's public health boss: Vaccine is not the end - stay vigilant

That was the message from Oxfordshire’s director of public health, Ansaf Azhar, who urged residents of the county to remain cautious ahead of the one-year anniversary of the first lockdown today.

Mr Azhar, speaking at a meeting of the Oxfordshire Health and Wellbeing Board, explained the need to maintain Covid prevention measures like wearing masks and social distancing for now.

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Speaking about those in younger age groups who have not yet been vaccinated, Mr Azhar said: “I think one of the things I would want to say is if there is more virus circulating in the community, even if it doesn’t cause significant illness, it creates chances of mutation and it increase the chances of creating more variants of concern which could challenge our vaccine.

“There is every interest in keeping the virus as low as possible to prevent that from happening.”

Oxfordshire County Council director of public health Ansaf Azhar

And on those who have been vaccinated, he said data was emerging that suggested having a jab helped to reduce transmission.

But he added: “It is important to realise the biggest impact would have been the lockdown.

“It is important people realise that just because you have had the vaccine you shouldn’t change your behaviour.”

Overall, Oxfordshire’s Covid rate is mirroring the national picture, and has fallen in recent weeks, largely due to lockdown measures according to Mr Azhar.

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However, Mr Azhar added that rates were now starting to ‘plateau’ as measures to unlock the country from lockdown were now having an influence of rates.

As of March 16, there are 229 cases in the county, or a rolling rate of 33.1 people per 100,000 in the population.

This has not changed much in the three weeks of March so far, after an initial fall from 519 cases across the county at the end of February, or a case rate of 75.

Mr Azhar also stressed the importance of receiving a vaccine, in light of hesitancy about the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine after European countries had decided to place its rollout on hold due to potential side effects, including blood clotting.

He said: “Vaccination remains the single most effective interventions against preventing deaths from Covid. There have been 17m vaccinations in the EU and UK of which there have been just under 40 incidents of clots.

“This as a proportion works out as less than what would happen in the general population.

“The vaccine, and this is the stance that the MHRA has taken and the WHO has taken, is that is safe if you are offered it. That is the most single effective intervention from having Covid and dying from Covid. So please take this up if you are offered it.”

Mr Azhar helped to give a ‘system update’ on how Oxfordshire’s health services had coped with Covid.

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Data he displayed contrasted the number of hospitalisations and deaths in the first wave of the disease last spring, with those in the second wave in the winter.

There were 139 people hospitalised in Oxfordshire at the peak in April 2020, and 93 people died at that peak.

During the second peak in January, there were 327 people in hospital, however 83 people died at that time.

Oxfordshire’s chief nurse, Sam Foster, said treatment for Covid had become better, including new ‘non-invasive’ methods of ventilation.

88-year-old Trevor Cowlett receives the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from nurse Sam Foster at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford as the NHS ramps up its vaccination programme with 530,000 doses of the newly approved jab available for

Michelle Brennan, a GP based in Henley, gave an update on Oxfordshire’s vaccination programme.

She told the board 275,000 vacinnes had now been delivered, including a 95 per cent take up of first jabs among the over 80s.

She added 90 per cent of 65- to 69-year-olds had now been vaccinated, as had all frontline health and care workers.

On news that the UK’s supply of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines would be reduced in coming weeks, Dr Brennan assured the health and wellbeing board vaccinations would continue.

The GP said: “In that time we are encouraging patients in cohorts 1 to 9 to come forward for a vaccine before the vaccination programme will be opened up to the lower cohorts.”

Today is the one-year anniversary of the first lockdown’s announcement.

On Monday, March 23, 2020, the Prime Minister issued a stay at home order in a public address broadcast on television.

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