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The NHS has been asked to be ready to roll out a coronavirus vaccine since early December, Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News.
On Monday it was announced that a COVID-19 The vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, has been turned out to be 90% effective to prevent people from contracting the virus.
Hancock described the development as “promising news” but, with England currently with less than a week off a month, he cautioned that it was just “one step of many we need to get out of this and tackle this pandemic once and for all all”.
A COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech has been found to be 90% effective
“The fundamental thing is that we all maintain our determination on the measures that are in force now,” he added.
However, Hancock revealed that he had asked the NHS, which will have the support of the Armed Forces, to “be ready from the beginning of December” for the deployment of a vaccine.
He said: “Of course there are a lot of hurdles that still need to be overcome and we haven’t seen all the safety data and obviously that is critical and we will not implement a vaccine unless we can be confident in its clinical safety.
“But we also have to be prepared in the event that a vaccine gets licensed and overcomes all those hurdles and is ready to go.”
Hancock said that residents and nursing home staff, the NHS and social care staff, and then the elderly would be first in line for vaccination.
But the Health Secretary refused to add his voice to those who have said that life could return to normal in the spring of next year.
The British Medical Association has said that coronavirus vaccines could be available from GPs and large transit sites 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
Doctors should prepare to start striking as soon as they are available, the medical union said.
The BMA has told GP surgeries to be ready for “fast delivery” of coronavirus vaccines once they are approved by regulators.
Family physicians receive guidance on a new “enhanced targeted service” that would go beyond their normal hours to deliver vaccines from 8 am to 8 pm Monday through Sunday.
Patients should receive two doses of the vaccine, either 21 or 28 days apart.
In addition to GPs and chemists, the vaccines could also be available at mass vaccination centers that will function “similarly to testing centers,” the union added.
There could also be “roving teams” of vaccine nurses offering pricks to people in nursing homes or homebound.
The BMA said in its statement: “Vaccine availability will be limited to begin with, meaning that only small amounts of vaccines can be administered in December and most vaccines will be done in early 2021.”
“Working together, practices should be prepared to offer vaccines seven days a week so that the vaccine is delivered within its short shelf life and so that patients receive it as soon as possible.
“Practices should work together to decide which practice (or other appropriate site) is used for the vaccination site, remembering the need for the provision to be potentially available from 8 am to 8 pm, seven days a week.”
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But scientists have raised concerns about how GPs will store vaccines, as they need to be kept at -80 ° C.
They say that many surgeries do not have freezers cold enough for them.
Brendan Wren, professor of microbial pathogenesis at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told Sky News: “Certainly a lot can be done, but whether it can be reached out to all who need it is another matter and that is why there are other vaccines available. “
