About the COVID-19 Vaccination programme

Thousands of positive COVID-19 cases and hundreds of deaths with COVID-19 on the death certificate are still recorded every week in England and significant numbers are suffering the effects of ‘long COVID’. The disease affects particularly those most vulnerable due to increasing age or underlying health conditions. Widespread vaccination has already successfully prevented huge numbers of deaths and hospital admissions and the continued use of effective vaccines remains a key element in the strategy to protect those most vulnerable and to reduce the burden of COVID-related admissions on the NHS during periods of pressure due to other viruses and cold weather.

This COVID-19 Vaccination elearning programme is designed to provide the health and care workforce involved in the national COVID-19 vaccination programme with the knowledge they need to confidently promote high uptake of the vaccine as well as continue to deliver the vaccine programme safely and effectively.

The programme consists of a core knowledge session and separate knowledge sessions for each vaccine in current use. There are also accompanying assessment sessions for each knowledge session. All those undertaking this elearning should complete the core knowledge session as this is designed to provide essential knowledge about COVID-19 and the key principles of immunisation needed to deliver the vaccines. Learners should then complete the vaccine-specific knowledge sessions for the vaccine(s) they will be involved in giving as these provide more detailed information. This includes how the vaccine works, how it should be stored, prepared and administered and any contraindications, precautions and potential vaccine reactions. The assessment sessions should then be completed after each knowledge session.

All COVID-19 vaccinators are required to complete the relevant elearning sessions within this programme before starting to vaccinate. However, it is not nationally mandated that vaccinators need to complete the existing elearning sessions again after a certain period, as long as they have not had a significant break from practice and can demonstrate that they have been keeping their knowledge and skills up to date through other mechanisms. The sessions, however, can be accessed at any time should vaccinators wish to refresh their knowledge about any aspect of the programme.

Where new vaccines are introduced vaccinators will be required to complete the relevant online modules. Please see the ‘Remaining up to date’ section in the Training Recommendations for COVID-19 Vaccinators for further guidance.

The elearning sessions describe the national COVID-19 vaccination programme for England. Most of the information in the sessions will be relevant for those involved in the programme throughout the UK and Crown Dependencies. However, those undertaking the programme in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Crown Dependencies should be aware that some details as to how the programme will be delivered may be different. Vaccinators should therefore ensure that they refer to any country-specific information available so they are familiar with the particular details of the programme for the country in which they are practicing.

To access the COVID-19 Vaccination elearning programme select this link: https://portal.e-lfh.org.uk/Component/Details/675208

More information

This elearning programme provides theoretical training. Those new to vaccination, or returning to vaccination after a prolonged period, will also require face to face practical training in vaccine administration and assessment and competency sign-off before administering the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccinators should also have completed Basic Life Support and anaphylaxis training and any Statutory and Mandatory training required by their employer.

More information and training resources about the COVID-19 vaccine programme are available on the UK Health Security Agency website COVID-19 vaccination programme page.

Information and training resources for supporting e-rostering and deployment are available here: https://www.allocatesoftware.co.uk/lp/vaccine/

Additional training for vaccinators

Important: COVID-19 vaccinators should check with their local provider/employer whether they need to undertake the additional training identified below.

Immunisation – Legal Aspects https://portal.e-lfh.org.uk/Component/Details/514308

Immunisation – Vaccine Storage https://portal.e-lfh.org.uk/Component/Details/514237

Immunisation – Vaccine Administration https://portal.e-lfh.org.uk/Component/Details/514227

Introduction to Anaphylaxis  https://portal.e-lfh.org.uk/Component/Details/675634

Recognising and Managing Anaphylaxis https://portal.e-lfh.org.uk/Component/Details/429354

Statutory and Mandatory Training (SMT) https://portal.e-lfh.org.uk/Component/Details/458587

Reasonable adjustments

Communicating effectively with people about the vaccine, and providing the right support and reasonable adjustments, is essential to making the vaccination process accessible to everyone. Meeting people’s individual needs potentially reduces the health inequalities experienced by disabled people and can enable more satisfactory outcomes for both parties. Read this short Top Tips guide for vaccination staff working with people with a learning disability, autism or both https://www.england.nhs.uk/learning-disabilities/improving-health/reasonable-adjustments/  

Treat me well: Asking for reasonable adjustments 

This short film is part of Mencap’s Treat Me Well campaign and describes the reasonable adjustments to which people with a learning disability are entitled. 

How to access

In order to access the COVID-19 Vaccination programme, you will need an elfh account. If you do not have one, then you can register by selecting the Register button below.

Register >

To view the COVID-19 Vaccination programme, select the View button below. If you already have an account with elfh, you will also be able to login and enrol on the programme from the View button.

View >

NHS healthcare staff in England

The COVID-19 Vaccination programme is also available to NHS healthcare staff via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). Accessing this elearning via ESR means that your completions will transfer with you throughout your NHS career.

Further details are available here.

Organisations wishing to use their own LMS

For HR departments wanting to know more about gaining access to courses using an existing Learning Management System please contact elfh directly to express interest.

More information

Please select the following link for more information on how to use the elfh Hub.