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Game changers Frank Lampard and Lord Coe on sport’s role in tackling intolerance Page 24 Extraordinary Care from Extraordinary People
• Residential • Respite • Independent Living
VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY 10 December 2020
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24 Kislev 5781
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Issue No.1188
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020 8908 4151 jewishchoice.org
@JewishNewsUK
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Armed intervention
Jewish care home boss among first to get vaccine The manager of a care home in Golders Green run by Jewish Care was among the first people to receive the Covid-19 vaccine last night, as the charity launched a campaign to prepare staff and residents to follow suit, writes Jack Mendel. Mira Stamatova, who runs Jewish Care’s Otto Schiff centre, was selected for the Pfizer/ BioNTech jab after registering through the NHS. Frontline healthcare workers can apply for the vaccine as a priority. She told Jewish News: “This is by far a better alternative than being exposed to the virus, which has the potential to have devastating effects. We will be encouraging everyone who works with us or has a loved one in our care to get the jab.” The first doses were administered to the elderly this week, with almost 20 million people, including frontline workers and those
with underlying health conditions, first in line. It is hoped that up to four million people may receive the jab before the end of the year. Jewish Care has launched a campaign to educate and “bust myths” about the vaccination process, encouraging staff, residents and
The vaccine being administered this week
tenants to get the jab. The charity will also run a webinar with experts and health professionals to educate about its importance while preparing for the mass roll out. Chief executive Daniel Carmel-Brown said: “We are working as quickly as possible on the practicalities of rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine to our most vulnerable groups and those who care for them. We will do all we can to ensure the uptake of the vaccine with our staff, volunteers and residents is as high as possible. We hope the wider community and other communal bodies will join us in encouraging the uptake of the vaccine.” Jewish Care runs a Holocaust Survivors Centre in Hendon, supporting more than 500 survivors and refugees. Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: “In many cases, survivors have been alone, but typically they’ve managed through
Follow the dog…
the toughest of circumstances and inspired us all. This vaccine gives us all hope that we can once again be reunited with them and that they can spend their remaining years safely in the company of those they love.” German-born Holocaust survivor Eve Kugler, 89, will get the vaccine on Friday at the Royal Free Hospital. Helen Simmons, chief executive of social care charity Nightingale Hammerson, said her organisation had “collated consent forms for almost all residents for the vaccine”. However, she warned: “We are hearing daily mixed messages as to whether this vaccine can be transported into care homes or not. This lack of clarity is causing a lot of unnecessary anxiety.” A spokesperson for Sage care home in Golders Green said staff “are being invited to book a vaccination appointment” and it will be “writing to residents and their families to ascertain their preferences”.