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The UK’s fattest people over millions of Britons aged 50 to 65 will be given priority for a coronavirus vaccine, government guidance confirmed.
The official advice says that people with morbid obesity should be included in the group of adults ‘at risk’ and have access before all people under 65 years of age.
One in eight adults in the UK is classified as morbidly obese, the fattest category, or around 2 million people.
Morbidly obese people, defined as having a BMI over 40, are nearly twice as likely to die from Covid-19 than healthy people, hospital data shows. By comparison, a healthy BMI is in the range of 18.5 to 24.9.
Diabetics are also included in the “at risk” category. While type 1 diabetes is largely genetic, being overweight accounts for the majority of type 2 cases.
It has been known for months that people “at risk” with underlying diseases would receive a Covid-19 vaccine earlier than those under 65.
But the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) has just revealed what conditions fall into this category.
The updated advice was revealed in Public Health England’s guide to vaccines posted yesterday on the Government’s website.
The fattest people in the UK over millions of Britons aged 50 to 65 will be given priority to receive a coronavirus vaccine, government guidance confirmed.
Official council says ‘at risk’ adults should have access before everyone under 65
This group includes people with morbid obesity. One in eight adults in the UK is classified as morbidly obese, the fattest category, or around 2 million people.
Also included in the priority group are asthmatics, kidney patients and people with weakened immune systems.
The first million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, expected to be distributed next month, were originally reserved for nursing home residents and their caregivers.
But yesterday it emerged that NHS workers will be the first to be protected due to logistical problems with the storage and distribution of a vaccine.
After health personnel and residences, the next are all those over 80, followed by those over 75, those over 70 and then those over 65.
But, according to the latest guidelines, people with morbid obesity and other high-risk adults, such as patients with cancer and heart and lung disease, will be next ahead of everyone else.
It means morbidly obese Brits will get their hands on a jab even earlier than pregnant women.
Government sources have said that it is “very likely” that Pfizer is the first licensed vaccine.
The American giant, most famous for making Viagra, was the first to publish the results of its jab earlier this month, showing that it is 95 percent effective in preventing Covid-19.
Final safety data for the Pfizer coup was handed over to regulators on Monday and officials are quietly confident that the UK can get approval before the US and the EU.
But the jab has to be stored at -70 ° C (-94 ° F), which requires special special coolers and can only be thawed in batches of 1,000, representing a logistical nightmare for the NHS.
Health bosses are betting on the Oxford-developed AstraZeneca jab, which costs a fraction of the price and can be stored in a regular refrigerator, which will be approved in a matter of weeks.
Britain is believed to have 19 million doses of the Oxford and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.
But the confusing results of the Oxford trials found that those under 55 who accidentally got too little vaccine actually had better protection against coronavirus than those who got the full doses, so it’s unclear how effective it really is. the vaccine.
The MHRA is doing the same analysis of Pfizer’s jab and the ’emergency approval’ does not bypass any security checks, but means that it can be delivered as soon as regulators are satisfied, rather than waiting for the documentation to be finalized. official. This was made possible by a new specific law introduced over the summer.
Results from the Oxford trial this week suggested the vaccine is 62 to 90 percent effective, depending on the dose given to people.
The prick was found to be most effective among 2,741 volunteers who accidentally received only half a dose the first time they received the injection, followed by a full dose. But none of them were over 55, reportedly, meaning they didn’t represent the vulnerable group that will depend on the vaccine in the real world.
The scientists said claiming that the vaccine could be 90 percent effective for everyone based on that chance result was “shaky science” and its manufacturer, AstraZeneca, announced yesterday that it would conduct another clinical trial to confirm the results.
The company’s share price has fallen nearly eight percent since it released the results Monday amid confusion over whether the dosage error will hurt the vaccine’s chances of approval. There are questions about how it will go down in the US, which has reserved 500 million doses of the jab.
