Covid 19 coronavirus: UK appoints vaccine minister, could start doses next week

The British government has appointed a minister for vaccines as it prepares to inoculate millions of people against the coronavirus, possibly starting in a few days.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday (Sunday NZT) that Conservative lawmaker Nadhim Zahawi would oversee the country’s largest vaccine program in decades.

The UK drug regulator is currently evaluating two vaccines, one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, the other by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, to see if they are safe and effective.

The Guardian newspaper reported that hospitals have been told that they could receive the first doses of the Pfizer injection the week of December 7, if approved.

The UK says frontline healthcare workers and nursing home residents will be the first to be vaccinated, followed by older people, starting with those over 80.

Britain ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, enough for 20 million people, and 100 million doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine.

In total, the UK government has agreed to buy up to 355 million doses of vaccine from seven producers, as it prepares to vaccinate as many of the country’s 67 million people as possible.

Decisions on which vaccines to authorize, if any, will be made by the independent Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency.

Pfizer and BioNTech say their vaccine is 95 percent effective, according to preliminary data. It should be stored in extremely cold temperatures of around minus 70 degrees Celsius.

Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine can be stored at conventional refrigerator temperatures and is also cheaper than its main rivals. But some scientists have questioned the gaps in their reported results.

Oxford and AstraZeneca reported this week that their vaccine appeared to be 62 percent effective in people who received two doses, and 90 percent effective when volunteers received a half dose followed by a full dose.

They said half the dose was administered due to a manufacturing error and they plan a new clinical trial to investigate the most effective dosing regimen.

The British government hopes that a combination of vaccines and massive testing will end the need for restrictions on business and daily life that it imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Britain has had the deadliest Covid-19 outbreak in Europe, with more than 57,000 confirmed deaths related to the virus.

The prime minister said this week that officials hoped to vaccinate “the vast majority of people who need more protection for Easter.” But he warned that “we must first navigate a harsh winter” of restrictions.

England’s four-week national lockdown will end on Wednesday and will be replaced by a three-tiered system of regional measures restricting business activity, travel and socializing. The vast majority of the country will be in the top two tiers.

The restrictions have sparked protests, including an anti-blockade rally in London on Saturday, where police arrested dozens of people.

Several bottles and smoke bombs were thrown as anti-mask and vaccine protesters clashed with officers in the city’s West End business district. Metropolitan police said 155 people were arrested.

Johnson also faces opposition to the measures from dozens of his own Conservative Party lawmakers, who say the economic damage outweighs the public health benefits.

But Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said the restrictions were “terribly” necessary to prevent the healthcare system from being overwhelmed this winter.

Writing in The Times of London, Gove said there are currently 16,000 coronavirus patients in British hospitals, not far below the April peak of 20,000. An increase in infections would mean that coronavirus patients “would displace all but emergencies. And even those,” he said.

“However, if we can keep the level of infection stable or, better yet, decrease and hold until January and February, then we can be sure that vaccination will solve the problem,” Gove wrote.