Message from the Wandsworth Director of Public Health

---

Shannon Katiyo gives advice as the Omicron virus spreads

Shannon Katiyo, Director of Public Health Wandsworth Council

Dear Residents,

Last Christmas we welcomed the news of the long-awaited vaccines that would prove so successful in the battle against COVID-19. As we reflect, we know that these vaccines have saved countless lives and protected millions of people since the first jab was given.

Like many other parts of the country, Wandsworth saw a huge reduction in the number of our residents ending up in hospital or experiencing serious illness due to COVID-19, and the number of related deaths remains significantly lower. That was a real success. Unfortunately, the new variant – Omicron - is resulting in a rapid rise in the number of cases running alongside the Delta variant. This has resulted in one of the most rapid rise in cases that we have seen during the pandemic.

With people getting together at Christmas, the virus will continue to spread, potentially causing more disruption. We need to act quickly to protect ourselves and reduce the risk of more disruption.

We now know that having the booster jab at least three months after your second jab will provide improved protection and reduce the chances of becoming more seriously ill from COVID-19.

Together with the NHS we worked hard to make sure that everyone could have had their booster before Christmas. You can go online to book an appointment, or you can also go to walk in and pop up clinics at The Roehampton Vaccination Centre at Queen Mary's Hospital, WJ Boyes Chemist, Balham or Pearl Chemist, Tooting.

We need everyone to add “Get Boosted” to the top of their Christmas to-do list. If you haven’t had your first or your second jab, now is the time to do it. Never feel like it is too late to get vaccinated! We won’t ask any questions as to why you haven’t had it, so just set the time aside. Look closely at the evidence that showing how well the vaccines protect people from symptomatic disease, hospitalisation and death.

I know that this is not where we hoped to be this year, but we have done so much together to keep everyone in the borough safe. The huge numbers of people who have already had the vaccine put us in a much better position than we were last Christmas, so I want to thank all of you for the effort.

And finally, thank you for everything you have been doing to stay safe. Even if you have had all your vaccinations, continue to “Flow Before You Go” by taking a rapid test when the risk of COVID is higher, wear a face covering when required, try to meet outdoors, but if meeting inside, please open a window, and of course, wash your hands regularly. If you do have symptoms of COVID-19, isolate and get a PCR test. Do it all, do it well, do it consistently.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Kind Regards

Shannon Katiyo
Director of Public Health
Wandsworth Council

 

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

 

December 29, 2021