COVID-19: Boris Johnson Warns of ‘Immense Logistical Challenges’ in Vaccine Distribution | Political news

It will take “a few months” for the UK’s most vulnerable people to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, the prime minister said.

At a press conference in Downing Street, Boris Johnson acknowledged that there will be “immense logistical challenges” in the distribution of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, which has been approved for use in the UK.

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“Inevitably, it will be a few months before all the most vulnerable are protected, long cold months,” he said.

“It is, therefore, even more vital that as we celebrate this scientific achievement we do not get carried away by excessive optimism or fall into the naive belief that the fight is over.”

The prime minister spoke after the UK became the world’s first country to approve the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine.

The jab, which has been given the green light by the independent health regulator, will be rolled out across the UK early next week.

Older people in nursing homes and their caregivers are top of the list to get the vaccine, which studies have found to be 95% effective and works in all age groups.

The government has secured 40 million doses of the COVID-19 jab, which should be refrigerated at -70C (-94F).

Despite being at the top of the priority list, the NHS chief said at the press conference that most nursing home residents will have to wait to receive their vaccine due to difficulties in transporting it.

Sir Simon Stevens, executive director of NHS England, said that because the jab must be stored at such low temperatures, it can only be moved a few times.

The dose packs, at 975 doses per pack, also cannot be safely divided at this time.

The first people to receive the vaccine will receive it from 50 hospitals and will be those over 80 years of age, the nursing home staff and other people identified by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) who can already have an appointment at the hospital.

He said that most vaccinations will take place in “January through March or April for the population at risk.”

“We have to move it around the country in a carefully controlled manner initially at minus 70 degrees Celsius, or more or less, and there are a limited number of additional moves that the regulator allows us to make,” Sir Simon said.

“It also comes in 975-person dose packs, so right now it cannot be distributed to every pharmacy or GP surgery as we would normally do with many of the other vaccines available on the NHS.”

Pharmacies could start beating people in January, Sir Simon said.

“If the MHRA, the independent regulator, as we hope it will approve a safe way to divide these 975-dose packages, the good news is that we will be able to begin distributing them to nursing homes,” he said.

“And then when there are even more vaccines available, we will finally be able to turn on large vaccination centers across the country and invite pharmacists from the local community probably in early January to start offering vaccination as well.”

Speaking about the difficulty of bringing the vaccine into nursing homes, Johnson said there is a risk that the vaccine will “degenerate” if it is “mishandled.”

The call for patience was repeated by the deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, who appeared alongside the prime minister and Sir Simon.

“The rollout will not be instantaneous,” he warned, asking people to stick to current restrictions and general guidance over the next few months.

Echoing Sir Simon, he said the vaccine was a “complex product with a very fragile cold chain.”

“It is not a yogurt that you can take out of the refrigerator and put it back several times. It is really difficult to handle,” he said.

Professor Van-Tam also appealed to vaccinators, saying, “Everybody wants social distancing to end, we are sick of it.

“Nobody wants to be locked up and see the damage they do. But if you want that dream to come true as quickly as possible, then you have to get the vaccine when they offer it to you.

“Low acceptance will almost certainly make the restrictions last longer.”

He said current restrictions, including social distancing and the tiered system across England, will need to remain in place “for now.”

“If we relax too early, if we just say ‘oh, the vaccine is here, let’s drop the precaution,’ all it’s going to do is create a wave of infections,” he said.

When asked by Sky political editor Beth Rigby if coronavirus levels will continue beyond the end of January, when MPs must vote on them again, the prime minister replied: “I think, for the moment, you should take it that way. It is going to be a very, very important part of our campaign against coronavirus.

“It is absolutely vital that people stick to the guide and follow the rules.”

Johnson added that there are “weeks, months of work” left before the restrictions can be eased.

Meanwhile, the prime minister’s press secretary suggested that Johnson I could have a live jab on TV – but only if it didn’t stop someone else in need from getting one.

Analysis: PM reveals its success metric after vaccine advancement
By Tom Rayner, Political Correspondent

After countless Downing Street press conferences in which there were so many doubts about the future, Boris Johnson set out to deliver a message backed by certainty.

Tonight there was no need for charts, terrifying projections, or color-coded maps.

He said that he was now “sure” that the arrival of a clinically approved vaccine meant there was a way out of the pandemic, but he was equally sure that “the fight is not over” and that “the plan depends on all of us continuing to make sacrifices. “.

But despite Johnson’s attempts to capture the moment with martial arts metaphors, it was Deputy Medical Director Professor Jonathan Van Tam who seemed to capture those dual certainties with the greatest impact and eloquence.

He said he was “quite excited” by the news this morning and assured the public that they were right to feel that way too.

“Everyone needs to be delighted with today’s news,” he said, “but equally patient and realistic.”

And the reason for the need for some patience was laid out throughout the press conference.

The key example was the recognition that, despite nursing home staff and residents being considered the most vulnerable category, the Pfizer vaccine will not be easy to obtain.

Boxes of the vaccine contain 975 doses, and those shipments cannot be divided into smaller units.

Those cases would be too large for most individual households, so the medical regulator will need to change their permits for this particular vaccine or the approval of the less logistically demanding Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine to that doses are implemented quickly.

Even if this particular challenge were to be overcome, NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens noted that even the most vulnerable are unlikely to get the required second dose until the New Year, so the need for social distancing and other restrictions will follow. being required for some time to come.

In fact, Jonathan Van Tam suggested that he did not believe that COVID-19 would be completely eradicated and that it would likely turn into a seasonal flu.

“Do I think we’ll be able to throw a big party like the end of the war? No, I don’t,” he said, adding that he believes that some of the habits of washing hands and keeping a certain distance can be enduring.

That seemed to alarm the prime minister, who perhaps saw it as undermining the message of certainty that normalcy would return.

It was an eye-opening moment, because it seemed to give insight into Johnson’s personal success metric.

So much so that the deputy chief medical officer felt the need to clarify that he was talking about habits, rather than a permanent need for government restrictions.

“Well who knows, who knows,” said the PM, unsure.