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Batches of the Covid vaccine have started arriving in hospitals across the UK, ready for the first hits on Tuesday in what the NHS England medical director warned would be the largest and most complex vaccination campaign in the country’s history. .
The unprecedented approval of the vaccine by the UK and the rapid start of immunization against Covid-19 did not mean that an end to the pandemic was in sight, said Professor Stephen Powis. It would be a marathon and not a sprint, he said.
“It will take us many months to vaccinate everyone who needs the vaccine,” Powis told Sky News.
The logistical obstacles are great. The Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine must be stored in deep-frozen packages containing 975 doses at minus 70 ° C that cannot be easily divided into small batches for delivery to individual care homes, whose residents have been designated as the first priority. It can be moved only four times and lasts only five days at refrigerator temperature.
Dr June Raine, executive director of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA), which gave the vaccine a temporary emergency clearance last week before the rest of the world, said it had now approved a method to divide the packages, but that had to be done very carefully so that no vaccines were wasted.
“We have approved how the vaccine can be put in small packages, but obviously what we are doing is giving advice and guidance on how well, carefully, it is done,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr.
“Our goal is to make sure that the vaccine reaches the people in nursing homes, the residents there, in the safest way possible. So everyone is working hard with our colleagues at the NHS to make sure that happens safely. “
But the first injections will be given in 50 hospital centers in England and others in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to people over the age of 80, some of whom may be nursing home residents who can travel. NHS staff were working over the weekend to set up immunization clinics and compile lists of who should be invited to get the vaccine first.
People over 80 who already have an outpatient hospital appointment this week will be invited to get vaccinated while there, NHS England said. So will elderly patients who are discharged after a hospital stay. Nursing homes will be invited to enroll their staff.
To ensure that no time or vaccinations are wasted, additional appointments will be offered to healthcare workers who are at high risk of contracting the coronavirus. Everyone who receives the injection will receive an appointment for the second dose within three weeks.
GP surgeries are on hold to offer vaccination from early next week. That will start with a small amount of practice but gradually spread. Mass vaccination centers in large venues, like soccer stadiums, won’t open until there are more supplies of this or other vaccines next year.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Next week will be a historic moment when we begin vaccination against Covid-19. We prioritize the most vulnerable first and those over 80, nursing home staff and NHS colleagues will be among the first to get vaccinated.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure that we can overcome significant challenges to vaccinate nursing home residents as soon as possible as well. I urge everyone to do their part to suppress this virus and follow local restrictions to protect the NHS as they carry out this crucial work. “
Raine said it is vitally important that people understand that the vaccine is safe. “There should be no question that this is a very safe and very effective vaccine,” he said.
The rest of the world is watching the UK as it launches its vaccination program, following criticism in Europe and the US about the speed with which the MHRA approved the vaccine.
Raine defended the quick decision. “I would really like to emphasize that the highest standards of scrutiny, safety and effectiveness and quality, international standards, have been met. Therefore, there should be real confidence in the rigor of our approval.
“More than that, our Commission on Human Medicines has also looked at all the data, so there should be no question that this is a very safe and very effective vaccine.
“It will help us turn the corner. There really are none of us who have not been affected by this pandemic, and our organization, like all others, has been completely focused on doing our job to help defeat this terrible disease. “
The UK has bought 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is enough for 20 million people, but most will arrive next year. NHS Providers Deputy Executive Director Saffron Cordery said 4 million doses were expected before the end of the year.
“It is important that people wait to be contacted by the NHS to receive their vaccine. All hospitals with local partners are already conducting a large-scale rigorous exercise to identify and contact the people who will be first in line. This will help ensure that the process runs as smoothly as possible, ”he said.
The UK recorded 17,272 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, up from 15,539 the day before, and 231 deaths were reported, bringing the total to 61,245.
