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- The UK has become the first country to approve the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
- Brian Pinker, 83, a kidney failure patient, was the first in the world to receive the vaccine, outside of a test.
- The UK government has promised 100 million doses, with 530,000 doses available to administer to people on Monday, and “tens of millions” of doses are expected to be available by March 31, according to the Department of Health.
- The six hospitals trusted to receive the vaccine initially are in Oxford, London, Sussex, Lancashire and Warwickshire.
- Priority will be given to vulnerable patients, healthcare workers and residents of nursing homes.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
The UK is the first country in the world to give people the Covid-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca outside of a trial. There are 530,000 doses ready to be given to people on Monday and “tens of millions” will be available by March 31, according to the Health Department.
The UK government has secured 100 million doses in total. The six hospitals trusted to receive the vaccine initially are in London, Sussex, Lancashire and Warwickshire. Brian Pinker, an 83-year-old dialysis patient, was the first person to receive his vaccine in Oxford. The Oxford professor who pioneered the vaccine, Andrew Pollard, has also been immunized.
The vaccine aims to protect people against Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus that has killed more than 1.8 million people around the world.
The Oxford vaccine was approved by regulators on Wednesday as the number of Britons infected with coronavirus rises, possibly due to a more infectious variant of the virus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hinted at “tougher measures” on Sunday, and heated debates over the best restrictions to put in place to curb its spread, including school closings.
Britain has the highest death toll in Europe and the sixth highest in the world, with over 75,000 deaths so far, while the highest rate is in the US, where more than 351,000 have died from the disease, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
A successful vaccination program is expected to provide a route out of blockages and other restrictions in daily life that aim to slow the spread of the deadly virus. The priority is to vaccinate people as soon as possible.
The plan is to immunize people at more than 750 vaccination sites across the UK. Priority will be given to vulnerable people, nursing home residents and healthcare workers, as recommended by the government’s advisory body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization.
It will be implemented by hospitals first, followed by family doctor clinics later this week. The Health Department said it expected up to 100 hospitals to vaccinate people by the end of this week, subject to “final security checks,” as well as 180 services run by general practitioners.
The Oxford vaccine is the second that the British can receive. More than a million people in the UK have already had a vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, according to a press release from the Department of Health. There are 66 million people in the UK and both vaccines require 2 doses. There is currently a debate about the best way to administer both doses, for example, whether to give one injection instead of two to immunize more people.
Oxford vaccine is easier to store and distribute than Pfizer’s because it requires a normal refrigerator, rather than extremely cold temperatures, for example.
When asked by Business Insider on Monday, the Health Department did not say whether or not it anticipated a shortage of the Oxford vaccine.
However, they said there are sufficient doses of Pfizer’s vaccine to sustain the vaccination program as it continues to accelerate, and they are working closely with Pfizer to ensure that the vaccines continue to arrive in the UK.
Meanwhile, the government urges people to comply with the restrictions.
“While the most vulnerable are immunized, I urge everyone to follow the restrictions so that we can reduce cases and protect our loved ones,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in a statement Monday.
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