COVID-19 Update: Guidance on Vaccination and Testing
It is now a year since the FOM received notice of the first meeting, for leaders of Royal Medical Colleges and Faculties, with the CMO to discuss the potential threat of a new coronavirus identified in Wuhan, China. In January 2021, it is clear that COVID-19 is a long haul for which there isn’t any quick fix.
The pressures upon the UK’s acute healthcare services, related to the current level of infection, are unlikely to alter significantly over the next few weeks but there is hope that a combination of measures, including the vaccination programme, will bring some gradual improvement during the coming months.
Phase 1 of the COVID-19 vaccination programme is designed to protect those at greatest risk of death and severe illness, categorised in nine priority groups, whereas the second phase may include targeted vaccination of those at highest risk of exposure and/or those delivering key public services.
Throughout the pandemic, the Faculty’s Ethics Committee has continued to review relevant issues raised by the evolving COVID-19 situation and we hope that their latest guidance on Vaccination and Testing will prove useful.
Dr Anne de Bono
President
