Vaccine arrives at hospitals across the country
The first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in the UK are being rolled out to 50 hospital hubs in England on December 7. After months of lockdown, the UK will finally begin its coronavirus vaccination programme from Tuesday. The bulk of coronavirus vaccinations are expected to take place early next year, as the Government expects only limited doses of vaccine to be available by the end of 2020.
The Government has secured a total of 40 million Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, becoming the first nation worldwide to authorise the vaccine for use.
In the first batch to be rolled out in the UK, there are 800,000 doses – enough to vaccinate 400,000 people initially.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “I don’t think people should expect anything over the next few days because the reality is, as I said, that for the vast, vast, vast majority of people this will be done in January, February, March.
“And the one thing that we don’t want people to get anxious about or concerned about is ‘Where’s my letter?’ in December.”
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Who will get the vaccine first in the UK?
At the moment a timeline for when each group will be vaccinated has not been set, as the UK only has access to a limited number of vaccines currently.
However, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority list for vaccination is as follows:
- Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
- All those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
- All those 75 years of age and over
- All those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
- All those 65 years of age and over
- All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
- All those 60 years of age and over
- All those 55 years of age and over
- All those 50 years of age and over
Although care home residents are at the top of the recommendation list, this week the first batch of vaccines are likely to be administered to
frontline NHS staff, care home workers and the over-80s.
England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam told BBC Breakfast that if the Government can, they “absolutely will” get the Pfizer jab into care homes.
However, there are logistical challenges to getting the Pfizer vaccine into care homes, as the vaccines must be stored at -70C.
Other vaccines, such as the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, will likely be easier to deploy in care homes as they can be kept in normal fridge-like temperatures.
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When will other covid vaccines be approved?
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has now been approved and is currently the only vaccine for COVID-19 to have passed safety checks in the UK.
The BioNTech vaccine reported 95 percent efficacy according to phase 3 trial data.
However, there are many other vaccines currently in development which the Government hopes will be approved very soon.
The Government has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has reported a 70 percent average efficacy rate according to phase 3 trial data.
Although it is not known when or if the vaccine will be approved soon, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Sunday Telegraph the vaccine “may come before Christmas, it may come early in the new year.”
Professor Van-Tam has also stated he hopes the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will be approved before Christmas.
The UK Government has purchased seven different types of coronavirus vaccine, which are currently under review pending approval.
In total, the Government has secured 335 million doses of vaccine, including five million doses of the Moderna vaccine, which has reported 94.1 percent efficacy according to phase 3 trial data.
Additionally, the Government has secured 60 million doses of the GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur vaccine.
The Government has also ordered 60 million doses of the Novavax vaccine, 60 million doses of the Valneva vaccine and 30 million doses of the Janssen vaccine.
Several of these vaccines are expected to be approved over the coming weeks and months for use in the UK and in other countries.
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