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The first doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine will arrive in the UK in “hours, not days,” according to Jonathan Van-Tam.
England’s deputy chief medical officer made the announcement Thursday morning when praised the UK’s approval of the jab.
Speaking to the BBC, Professor Van-Tam revealed that the UK is likely to receive deliveries of the inoculation today.
Live COVID updates as UK gears up for vaccine launch
The professor said he hopes to get the Pfizer vaccine “very, very soon in the UK. And I mean hours, not days.”
The UK was the first country to give the green light to the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and has requested 40 million doses.
Refrigerated transport is required to transport the vials, which must be stored at -70C.
Boris Johnson has warned of “immense logistical challenges” due to the low temperatures required for inoculation.
Comparison of COVID-19 vaccines ordered by the UK
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said 800,000 doses will arrive next week, while BioNTech’s commercial director Sean Marett said the UK is likely to get at least five million by the end of the year.
Sir Simon Stevens, executive director of NHS England, told a Downing Street news conference that due to the freezing conditions required to store the jab, it can only be moved a few times and only in large quantities.
A box of the vaccine contains 975 doses, but the Regulatory Agency for Medicines and Health Products has not authorized the division of these packages.
This makes distribution to nursing homes difficult and could result in doses being wasted.
Professor Anthony Harnden, vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, said that the vaccine priority list was made to be flexible and could react to what was happening on the ground.
Pfizer and BioNTech have said that your inoculation can be shipped to nursing homes as long as it travels for less than six hours after coming out of cold storage and placed in a regular refrigerator.
