On December 2, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was approved by regulators for use in Britain, paving the way for mass vaccinations to begin.
In a press conference on the evening of the approval, Boris Johnson announced that we have been waiting for a “searchlight of science” to “pick out our invisible enemy” but “now the scientists have done it”.
But who will receive the vaccine first?
It was revealed on December 4 that NHS front-line staff would no longer be prioritised for the coronavirus vaccine.
NHS staff were to be first in line for the jabs after it was deemed too difficult to get the vaccine to care homes. But amid the uncertainty over the number of doses the UK would receive by the end of the year, care homes were bumped back up the list.
Chris Hopson, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said that an initial 800,000 doses “could be the only batch we receive for some time”.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said the “bulk” of vaccine rollout would take place in 2021, with the Oxford/AstraZeneca version likely to considerably boost supply.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises ministers, had recommended that the vaccine should be prioritised for the the elderly and health workers.
The group have published their list of who they believe should get the vaccine first.
Explaining the priorities for who will get the vaccine, chairman of the JCVI Professor Wei Shen Lim said: “Vaccines are offered to protect people who are most at risk from dying of Covid-19, as well as to protect health and social care services, because by doing so we also protect lives.”
Professor Lim said age was the single most important factor in the estimated risk of mortality, and everyone in the country older than 50 will be vaccinated by the time the end of phase one.
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Van-Tam, suggested the priority list for vaccinations will cover 99 per cent of Covid-related deaths, meaning restrictions may then begin to come to an end.
“The vaccine appears to be safe and well-tolerated, and there were no clinically concerning safety observations,” according to the JCVI, which added that the data indicates it is highly effective across all age groups.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has also prioritised key workers in the queue for immunisation. Therefore, transport workers, first responders and teachers will be among the first to receive the jab in the second phase of the vaccine rollout.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said 800,000 doses of the jab will arrive next week, with millions more to follow. In total the UK has ordered 40 million doses of the vaccine, enough to vaccinate 20 million people.
But rolling it out will be a challenge, with NHS boss Simon Stevens describing it as the “largest scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history”.
Sir Simon Stevens also shared more about who would receive the second doses, saying they would be reserved for those getting the first dose in December.
Sir Simon said: “We need to be very careful through December and into January and then as vaccination expands to the wider population.”
He went on to add that a phasing of delivery would involve 50 ‘hospital hubs’ which will offer the jab from the week beginning December 7 to the over-80s, care home staff and others identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
The Chief Executive said patients are likely to be people who were scheduled to attend outpatient appointments, which will eventually be followed by over 1000 vaccination centres in due course.
Three modes of delivery
Mr Hancock said there would be “three modes of delivery” of the vaccine, with hospitals, mass vaccination centres and GPs and pharmacists offering the jab to those most in need.
He said: “Fifty hospitals across the country are already set up and waiting to receive the vaccine as soon as it’s approved, so that can now happen.
“Also vaccination centres, which will be big centres where people can go to get vaccinated. They are being set up now.
“There will also be a community rollout, including GPs and pharmacists.”
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer said the rollout would take “months, not weeks”, meaning it is essential to continue following the new tier system rules.
Professor Van-Tam said: “Nobody wants lockdown. But if you want that dream to come true as quickly as it can come true, then you have to take the vaccine when it is offered to you.”
The Armed Forces and NHS have begun urgent preperations for the centres have have been told they should be completed within a fortnight, according to sources.
Military personnel have been ordered to transform about 10 sites into vaccine hubs, including the Nightingale hospital at the London ExCel centre, Epsom racecourse, in Surrey, and Bristol’s Ashton Gate football stadium and Robertson House conference facility in Stevenage will serve the capital and south of England, according to sources.
Derby City Council leaders also confirmed the local authority is finalising arrangements for Derby Arena to be used as a vaccination centre.
Other locations being considered as possible venues include: The Black Country Living Museum, Millennium Point, parts of Malvern’s Three Counties’ Showground in Worcestershire and the Villa Park site, home of Aston Villa FC in the West Midlands, and Leicester racecourse in the East Midlands.
A mass rollout of Covid-19 vaccinations is also expected to start on December 9 in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
The vaccine will then also be rolled out to GPs and pharmacists that have the capacity to store the vaccine at the -70C it needs to stay effective.
In the response to criticism that the temperature of the vaccine would make it difficult to be issued around care homes, Professor Van-Tam argued that it was “extremely unfair when one considers a new virus emerged less than 12 months ago and we now have our first vaccine”.
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer continued: “This is a complex product. It is not a yoghurt that can be taken out of the fridge and put back in several times.”
However, the Scottish Health Secretary announced that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be delivered to care home residents in Scotland within a fortnight (December 14).
Jeane Freeman said talks held on December 3 had confirmed the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can be transported in an unfrozen state for up to 12 hours, and can also be broken down into smaller packs in “certain conditions”.
Ms Freeman said this makes the vaccine “more useable with minimum wastage for care home residents and our older citizens”.
The National Care Forum said the only viable solution for care home residents is to get the jabs “over the threshold”.
A spokeswoman said: “It seems that the Scottish Government has come to a different conclusion and in fact intends to honour the prioritisation outlined by the JCVI and deliver the vaccine directly to Scottish care homes.
“It is not at all clear at this moment why the English Government is not pursuing this path.”
The NHS has been preparing for a mass vaccination programme for several weeks and could have up to 1,500 GP practices and drive-through centres ordered to open from 8am to 8pm every day, each dispensing at least 1,000 jabs a week.
Under the current plans, local clusters of about five practices covering approximately 50,000 patients, known as Primary Care Networks, will combine to organise vaccine delivery and the health service is hoping to immunise one million people per week.
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