Travel concerns have been raised over Indian-manufactured AstraZeneca vaccine batches which have been given out in the Harrogate district.

The Indian version of the jab, known as Covishield and made by the Serum Institute of India, is not currently recognised by the European Union’s passport scheme.

The vaccine conforms to medical standards but did not get the right paperwork for Europe so has thrown into doubt travel plans for millions of people across the UK.

Tim Stokes, a caterer from Harrogate, is one of those who received the a vaccine from the Indian-manufactured batch.

He said he received his vaccine at the Yorkshire Showground site.

While he has not yet booked a holiday, Mr Stokes said he would think twice before looking to take a break abroad.

He said:

“I think we will wait and if something comes up then we will take it.”

Mr Stokes added he was concerned that if the vaccine was not recognised then it would require him to isolate upon arrival.

Around five million British people have had the vaccine, which has not yet been authorised by the European Medicines Agency for use on the EU Digital covid certificate.

Some of the batches of the vaccine have been given at the Yorkshire Showground vaccination site.

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.However, the Department of Health said vaccines given in the UK would appear as “Vaxzevria” on the NHS covid pass.

It said:

“The government has confirmed that no Covishield vaccines have been administered in the UK and that all AstraZeneca vaccines given in the UK appear on the NHS COVID Pass as Vaxzevria.”

Meanwhile, other countries such as Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Ireland and Spain have already approved the Covishield vaccine for travel.

Estonia, Switzerland and Iceland have also said they will recognise the vaccine.

Central Harrogate has the lowest uptake of a first covid vaccine in the district, according to government figures.

Public Health England has created an interactive map showing the percentage of adults who have had a vaccine by area.

According to the map, Central Harrogate had a first dose uptake of 68% by the end of yesterday.

Dishforth, Baldersby and Markington had the next lowest figure, at 76%.

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Knaresborough South and Follifoot had the highest uptake with 88% of adults receiving a first dose.

Spofforth, Burn Bridge and Huby also had a high percentage with 87%.

Overall, the Harrogate district has a first vaccination uptake of 81%.

Latest figures show 115,907 people have had a first jab and 95,768 have had a second.

Five highest first dose uptake areas:

• Knaresborough South and Follifoot – 87.7%
• Spofforth, Burn Bridge and Huby – 87.4%
• Knaresborough North – 87.2%
• Masham, Kirby Malzeard and North Stainley – 86.4%
• Pateley Bridge and Nidd Valley – 85.1%

Five lowest first dose areas:

• Harrogate Central – 68%
• Dishforth, Baldersby and Markington – 75.7%
• Harrogate East – 76.3%
• Stray – 77.9%
• Saltergate – 78.8%

Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground vaccination centre is set to close this weekend.

After six months in operation, the site will give its final jab on Saturday.

Vaccinations will still continue in Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge. However, Ripon Racecourse will only be offering second doses, including to people who had their first jab at the showground and still need to receive their second.

The move comes as the government aims to give as many vaccinations as possible ahead of a potential lifting of the remaining covid restrictions on July 19.

A post on the Harrogate Spa Surgery Facebook page said:

“We would like to extend our huge gratitude to all the local GP practices, Yorkshire Health Network and volunteers involved in setting up and running the centre over the past six months.

“The vaccine uptake across the region has been fantastic. Thank you to our patients for their willingness to come forward for vaccination and their patience in waiting for their invitations to arrive. 

“Clinics will continue to run at Ripon Racecourse over the coming weeks for second doses only.”

The Great Yorkshire Showground site first opened its doors on December 22.

Read more:

• Great Yorkshire Showground can give 1,800 vaccines in a day
• Tears of relief at Harrogate vaccination site

Seventeen GP practices in the district and the Yorkshire Health Network, the federation of GPs, came together to look for a suitable venue to hold vaccinations.

They settled on the showground because of its size and the need to keep batches of the Pfizer vaccine refrigerated on site.

At full capacity, the centre could give up to 1,800 vaccines a day and reached its 100,000th jab in April.

Dr Chris Preece, a GP partner in Boroughbridge and Knaresborough and one of the practitioners who helped to set up the site, told the Stray Ferret previously that people had been left “very emotional” after having their vaccine.

So far, a total of 205,231 vaccinations have been given across the Harrogate district.

The figure includes 111,517 first doses and 93,174 second doses, according to latest Public Health England data.

It means the take-up for a first vaccine in the district is currently 78%, while for a second dose it is 65%.

The Harrogate district’s covid infection rate has returned to levels not seen since March.

The news comes ahead of tonight’s expected government announcement that the planned June 21 unlocking will be delayed by four weeks.

The Delta variant first identified in India was confirmed to have arrived in North Yorkshire last month and Harrogate’s weekly infection rate has since more than tripled.

However, there were no covid patients in Harrogate District Hospital as of last Wednesday and it has been two months since it recorded a death.

Public Health England figures show the latest infection rate for the Harrogate district is 52 cases per 100,000 people – up from 16 this time last month.

The latest figure is also above the North Yorkshire average of 41, but below the England average of 70.

Meanwhile, more than 111,000 people in the district have now received their first covid jab and over 92,000 their second.

Read more:

• Great Yorkshire Show ‘monitoring situation’ as lockdown announcement looms
• More than 200,000 covid vaccines given in Harrogate district

Under the roadmap out of lockdown, England was due to move to stage four on June 21 when events and venues, including nightclubs, would be allowed to operate without capacity limits, and the cap on guests at weddings would also be lifted.

But many scientists have called for a delay to enable more people to be vaccinated and allow more time for work on whether vaccines are breaking or weakening the link between infections and hospitalisations.

Speaking at a meeting on Thursday, councillor Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire County Council, said with hopes of lockdown restrictions lifting now fading, “the race is on” to vaccinate as many people as possible as the spread of infections gathers pace.

“The light is still there but the increase in Delta variant transmissions is worrying. The trend is going upwards, hospitalisations are increasing and it also seems to be spreading into younger people who until recently seemed to be relatively immune.

“The race is on to vaccinate all of us as soon as possible. This is not over yet and we just have to be careful still.”

More than 180,000 covid vaccinations have been given in the Harrogate district so far.

A total of 107,899 people have received a first dose and 73,644 have had second doses, according to Public Health England figures.

It means 181,543 vaccinations have been given in total.

Meanwhile, seven further covid cases have been reported in the Harrogate district today.

According to Public Health England figures, it takes the total number of cases since last March to 7,788.

Read more:

• North Yorkshire’s covid vaccine ‘success’ to be examined
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The daily number of cases reported is based on PCR and lateral flow tests returning positive results.

However, if someone with a positive lateral flow test later has a negative result with a PCR test, the earlier result will be removed.

No further deaths from patients who tested positive for covid have been reported at Harrogate District Hospital.

According to NHS England figures, the most recent death of a patient who tested positive for covid was recorded on April 11.

It means the death toll at the hospital since last March remains at 179.

Elsewhere, the district’s seven-day covid rate stands at 21 per 100,000 people.

The North Yorkshire average is 17 and the England rate is 34.

Public health bosses are to examine why North Yorkshire’s covid vaccine uptake is significantly above the national average.

They will use the findings to tackle concerns over declining uptake of other jabs, such as MMR and meningitis.

North Yorkshire County Council‘s director of public health Louise Wallace told a meeting of the council’s executive one focus would be on whether transport and the location of vaccination centres had made it easy for residents to access Pfizer and Astra-Zeneca vaccines used in the county.

She was speaking just two days after the authority announced it would close vaccination sites at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground and Ripon Racecourse in August, saying mobile vaccination units would help to target areas reporting a sudden surge in covid cases.

A report to the meeting stated some 64.98% of the county’s population, excluding children, have received at least one Covid-19 vaccine, compared to the average rate across England of 53.38%.

The council and the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum have been providing logistical support around venues, transportation, volunteers and waste disposal for the vaccination programme, which is being overseen by the multi-agency North Yorkshire and York Vaccination Assurance Group, chaired by Ms Wallace.

The group aims to identify where there may be low levels in vaccine uptake and implement interventions to ensure equity in the vaccination rollout across North Yorkshire and York.

After hearing of the relatively high rate of covid vaccine uptake in the county,  the council’s Scrutiny of Health Committee chairman Councillor John Ennis asked whether officials would use the lessons learned as a springboard to tackle recognised low take-up rates of other vaccinations in the county, such as MMR.

The latest NHS digital figures, which were published in September 2019, show while coverage had continued to decline in all routine vaccinations across the country, North Yorkshire had a lower uptake than a number of its neighbours.

Read more:

• Total vaccine doses in Harrogate district near 170,000
• More than 100,000 people have first covid vaccine in Harrogate district

The county’s vaccination uptake rate for the two-dose MMR vaccine stood at 89% compared to 96% in County Durham and close to 95% in areas such as north Lincolnshire and Barnsley.

Medics have warned falling childhood immunisation rates risk a resurgence of deadly and life-changing diseases of the past. Public health experts have advised successful vaccination programmes need a “system-wide approach” saying services had become “fragmented” since changes were made to public health commissioning in 2012.

While Ms Wallace’s predecessor last year warned the county’s public health services were facing difficult choices due to cuts in Government funding, she told the meeting she would be prioritising vaccination programmes.

She said the authority had used its experiences from previous vaccination programmes, such as flu and MMR, to maximise coverage with the covid vaccine.

Ms Wallace said:

“We will be taking some of the lessons that we’ve learnt and looking at why this vaccination programme has got quite a high uptake overall

“We have got quite a lot of learning as to why people bought into this and we will be looking at why some people have vaccine hesitancy and try and myth-bust.”

Stray Views is a weekly column giving you the chance to have your say on issues affecting the Harrogate district. It is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Stray Ferret. See below for details on how to contribute.

Time for a Harrogate museum?

Having read some articles by Harrogate historian Malcolm Neeson, recently published by the Stray Ferret, I was reflecting on how many historical exhibits there must be in and around Harrogate, which are in storage possibly.

As the town centre is now changing following the pandemic, there are lots of empty properties available.

Could now be the time for Harrogate to celebrate its history by creating a museum? This might complement the excellent Royal Pump Room Museum and enhance the historic walks in Harrogate in the future.

Jane Malster, Harrogate

Vaccinated people should not have to pay for covid tests when we go abroad

I can not get my head around the fact we have had second covid injections but when we go on holiday we have to pay for a test.

We have to pay nearly £100 to test before we go into a country and the same amount again when we come back. Now we have had second injections we still have to wear masks and test. It’s puzzling a lot of people. I thought the vaccine would be the end of it.

If it isn’t, why put everyone through the injection? Fully vaccinated people should not have to pay to do a test. It’s wrong and costs a lot of money, especially if there are a few adults in the family.

Diana Pollitt, Harrogate

Noisy car exhausts blight Harrogate life

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Do you have an opinion on the Harrogate district? Email us at letters@thestrayferret.co.uk. Please include your name and approximate location details. Limit your letters to 350 words. We reserve the right to edit letters.

Nearly 170,000 covid vaccine doses have been given in the Harrogate district, according to the latest government figures.

Public Health England data show that a total of 168,858 have been given.

The number includes 104,487 first vaccines and 63,371 second jabs.

Figures show that first doses have steadily increased throughout this month, with the latest data showing 1,011 people received a first jab on May 19.

As demonstrated by the graph below, April saw the number of those receiving their first covid vaccine plateau due to a national shortage in supply.

First doses (green) and second doses (blue) of covid vaccines in the Harrogate district since December 2020. Data: Public Health England.

Since then, numbers have gradually increased and those in their 30s are now being invited to book their first appointment.

Read more:

• Harrogate and Ripon vaccine centres to close in August
• Police: ‘Avoid contact’ after Indian variant found in North Yorkshire
• Public Health England monitoring covid variant reported in Yorkshire

Currently, those aged 32 and over are eligible to come forward for a vaccine.

It comes as two vaccination centres in the Harrogate district are set to close in August.

Both the Great Yorkshire Showground and Ripon Racecourse will close down. The two GP-led sites have administered more than 120,000 jabs so far.

However, the pharmacy sites in Knaresborough and Pateley Bridge will remain open.

Dr Ian Dilley, a GP partner at East Parade Surgery in Harrogate and clinical director of the Mowbray Square Primary Care Network, said earlier this week:

“With the huge number of people now vaccinated in the local area, we feel August is an appropriate end date.

“We need to be mindful of the other pressures that will be placed on doctors’ surgeries as we head towards autumn and winter, and the annual flu vaccine campaigns that GP practices need to provide.

“We also need to enable our kind hosts at the Yorkshire Events Centre and Ripon Racecourse to provide their own events as restrictions continue to be eased and more public events are permitted.”

The vaccination centre in Knaresborough cancelled all appointments for today’s clinic due to staff problems.

The site, run by Homecare Pharmacy Services at the former Lidl supermarket, needs to have a pharmacist present at all times to oversee injections.

But the pharmacist scheduled to attend today was unable able to make it so the clinic was cancelled.

Jason Baskind, managing director of Homecare Pharmacy Services, told the Stray Ferret:

“We did not have too many people signed up today but we did have to cancel the clinic today. Most people did get a notification but unfortunately some did not.

“The pharmacist was not able to attend so it cannot go ahead. As part of our contract we have to have a pharmacist on site.

“But we will be back tomorrow and for the rest of the week, including the weekend.”

Read more:

• ‘Let’s crack on’: Knaresborough and Pateley vaccine sites reopen
• Giant public artwork coming to the Stray remembers NHS covid dead

The vaccine centre reopened last weekend and administered 1,800 jabs after supply shortages forced it to close for almost a month.

The site, which is now able to give both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca jabs, is set to re-open tomorrow for the rest of the week.

It aims to give an average of 1,000 jabs a day.

It has emerged that a woman died at Harrogate District Hospital after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid vaccine.

Deaths from the vaccine are exceptionally rare but the Financial Times revealed a 59-year-old woman called Julia began having headaches in mid-March, nine days after receiving her first jab.

She initially thought she was suffering migraines but on March 29 her husband, a retired doctor called Peter, came home to find her in a coma.

According to the FT, doctors at the Harrogate hospital said she had a “catastrophic brain injury” resulting from cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and a very low platelet count — the rare blood condition linked to the AstraZeneca jab. Two days later she died.

According to the government, just over 10 people develop adverse drug reactions for every million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine given.

Read more:

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• GP praises vaccine progress but warns against relaxing too soon

A UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency spokesperson said:

“We are saddened to hear about this death and our thoughts are with the family.

“As with any serious suspected adverse drug reaction, reports with a fatal outcome are fully evaluated by the MHRA, including an assessment of post-mortem details if available.

“Vaccines are the best way to protect people from covid and have already saved thousands of lives. Everyone should continue to get their vaccination when asked to do so unless specifically advised otherwise.

“Our detailed and rigorous review into reports of blood clots occurring together with thrombocytopenia is ongoing.”

A Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust spokesman declined to comment.

Three covid vaccines have been authorised for supply in the UK by the MHRA.

Besides Oxford-AstraZeneca, the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been approved for use following reviews of safety, quality and efficacy information from clinical trials.

Further information on vaccines is available here.