Vaccine launch in UK to kick off with queen in line for jab

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II will receive the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech in a few weeks, according to reports on Sunday, as the largest immunization program in UK history begins next week.

The 94-year-old monarch and her husband, Prince Philip, 99, are in line to receive the jab at the beginning of the throw, which begins Tuesday, due to their age and will not receive preferential treatment, several newspapers reported. .

Britain’s top royals “will make it known” that they have received the vaccines “as a powerful counter to the anti-vaccination movement,” the Sunday Times said.

The Mail on Sunday added that they hope to “encourage more people to take the vital blow.”

The queen has spent much of the pandemic in isolation in Windsor due to her age, and this year she will forgo her traditional family Christmas at her Sandringham estate in eastern England with other royals.

A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the vaccination reports, noting that “medical decisions are made personally.”

Britain became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday, and health officials have already developed criteria based on age and vulnerability to decide who will get it first.

‘Rise to the challenge’

Britain has pre-ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in total, and is expected to receive an initial batch of 800,000 to begin Tuesday’s launch.

Nursing home residents and their caregivers will be first in line, followed by those 80 and older and front-line health and care personnel.

Other older people and the clinically extremely vulnerable will be next, and the rest of the population will be prioritized by age.

The first doses were transported to the UK this week from a Pfizer plant in Belgium and will start arriving in dozens of “hospital centers” across the country on Monday.

Among the first to be inoculated will be older patients already attending the hospital as outpatients, those who are being discharged and other guests.

The effort faces major hurdles because this vaccine must be stored at -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit).

However, it can be kept for up to five days at 2-8 degrees Celsius.

“Despite the enormous complexities, hospitals will begin the first phase of the largest-scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history starting Tuesday,” said Stephen Powis, national medical director for the state’s National Health Service (NHS). .

“Working staff will once again be challenged to protect the most vulnerable from this terrible disease,” he added, noting that the NHS had “a strong track record” in delivering vaccines.

Air transport of vaccines

UK regulators were forced to defend its first global approval, insisting that it met all safety standards, after US and European officials questioned the swift process.

The Sunday Mirror reported that a number of high-profile figures in Britain had publicly pledged to receive the vaccine in a bid to boost acceptance.

Among them are Monty Python star Michael Palin, 77, Bob Geldof, 69, and rocker Ronnie Wood, 73, the tabloid said.

“I will take it absolutely and immediately as soon as humanly possible,” Geldof said.

Meanwhile, plans are reportedly being stepped up to ensure that any complications arising from the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31 do not reach deployment.

The Observer said ministers have drawn up contingency plans to send millions of doses to Britain on military aircraft in the event of a Brexit-related disruption at UK ports.

“We will do this if necessary,” a spokesman for the health department told the newspaper.

© 2020 AFP