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Northern Ireland will start to see a launch of the first Covid-19 vaccine in less than two weeks with 12,000 people to be immunized before Christmas, Northern Health Minister Robin Swann said on Wednesday.
The application of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine was due to begin on Monday, December 14, but Swann said it could be brought forward a couple of days and that vaccination could begin next week.
“This is the beginning, not the end,” Swann said, welcoming the UK’s licensing of the vaccine. “It is the beginning of the end”.
News of the authorization was announced as the Northern health department reported four more deaths from coronavirus, along with 416 new cases.
Swann said this was a “hugely significant day for Northern Ireland”, but that people should not let their guard down against Covid-19. As Northern Ireland remains blocked until Friday of the week, he said that people should continue to follow the rules to prevent coronavirus infection, as it is likely the summer before the vaccination program is completed.
Two-pin inoculation
Under the UK’s shared allocation of the vaccine, Northern Ireland will initially be entitled to 25,000 vials of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine. As it is a two-shot inoculation, that will allow some 12,000 of the most vulnerable people to get vaccinated before Christmas, the minister said.
On Wednesday night, Prime Minister Arlene Foster said the first in line to receive the vaccine would be 16,000 nursing home residents and 32,000 employees, plus 71,000 health and care workers and just over 80,000 people in their 80s or over. more.
While not firmly established, it seemed likely that instead of nursing home residents and those over 80 receiving the first vaccinations, frontline health workers and nursing home staff could travel to the vaccination centers, they would be the first to receive the vaccines.
Swann hinted that the logistical demands of cold storage and the sizes of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines made them more suitable for mass vaccination centers. He indicated, as did Northern Medical Director Dr. Michael McBride, that with this first vaccine it would hardly be feasible for the elderly and nursing home residents to travel to vaccination centers.
“The next vaccines should be more suitable for the deployment of mobile units and especially for our nursing homes,” Swann said.
On Tuesday, Patricia Donnelly, who is in charge of the Covid-19 vaccination program, said the North’s health service was “ready to go” in terms of implementing the scheme as of December 14.
Experienced vaccinators
He said the program would begin with vaccinating front-line healthcare workers, adding that the service had 800 experienced vaccinators on site with more than 600 vaccinators who had applied to join the scheme. He added that seven vaccine sites had already been selected.
Vaccinators are expected to receive vaccines first, and deployment to continue to front-line workers thereafter.
Swann said the way vaccines are allocated was determined by the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, but there had to be “flexibility” in how to do it.
He said women who were pregnant or planning to become pregnant during the vaccine program were advised not to take it.
Welcoming the authorization of the vaccine, Ms Foster stressed that this was not the end of the “fight against Covid”.
“This is a way out, but we must go all that way until we reach the end. We should all follow public health advice, ”he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O’Neill said news of the development would be one of the mixed emotions for people close to people who had died with Covid-19, a figure that now totals more than 1,000. She said she would have no problem taking the vaccine herself, but added that it was not about making the vaccine mandatory.
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