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Vaccine shortages are likely to cause problems for “several months,” the England medical director warned, amid fears that emergency medical care personnel at COVID “battle stations” are at risk of exhaustion.
Professor Chris Whitty said the UK urgently needs to maximize the number of people who are vaccinated as he advocated a change to prioritize the first doses for as many people at risk as possible.
But he said a lack of global supplies will likely hamper efforts to protect the nation in the early part of 2021.
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‘We will soon know if vaccines reduce transmission’
A letter signed by Professor Whitty and the medical directors of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said: “We have to make sure we maximize the number of eligible people who get the vaccine.”
“Currently, the main barrier to this is the availability of vaccines, a global problem, and this will continue to be the case for several months and more importantly during the critical winter period.
“The vaccine shortage is a reality that cannot be ruled out.”
The makers of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine said they are working hard to boost production of their COVID-19 vaccine, but warned there will be gaps in supply until other vaccines are rolled out.
“Right now it doesn’t look good, a hole is popping because other approved vaccines are missing and we have to fill the gap with our own vaccine,” BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told the news weekly Spiegel.
Last week, Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer, said a shortage of “fill and finish” materials needed to produce and package vaccines could also delay the national launch.
Professor Whitty said that the availability of vaccines will be a barrier to protect the nation
At a press conference in Downing Street, Professor Van-Tam said: “Many of you already know that it is not just about vaccine manufacturing. It is about filling and finishing, which is a critically scarce resource around the world. “.
The warnings came as the UK is faced with a growing number of COVID patients in hospitals across the country.
Adrian Boyle, vice president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said that many medical staff are “tired, frustrated and fed up.”
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he expressed concern about possible burnout: “What will it be like in the next few months? I don’t know, I’m worried.”
“We are very much in the battle positions.
“There will be morale boosts in the short term, but people are tired, frustrated and fed up, like everyone else, whether they work in the hospital or not.”
His remarks came when the head of England’s Royal College of Nursing, Mike Adams, said staff licenses would be canceled to cope with increased demand.
Meanwhile, Nightingale hospitals in England are preparing for use to ease pressure on hospitals.
But Adams told Sky News that the expectation of a massive deployment of staff for Nightingale hospitals was “misplaced.”
He added: “If we have to cancel the license for the staff in these areas, the obvious question is where will the staff come from to open the Nightingales?
“I have real concerns that the expectation that this massive deployment of capacity could happen is misplaced because there are no staff to do it.”
On Thursday, UK Medical Directors endorsed a orientation change which says that booster doses should be given up to 12 weeks after an initial dose to maximize the number of people vaccinated.
But Wednesday’s announcement prompted Pfizer to issue a warning about what it called “alternative dosing.”
A spokesperson said: “There is no data to show that protection after the first dose is maintained after 21 days.”
However, UK Medical Directors said: “In terms of protecting priority groups, a model where we can vaccinate twice as many people in the next 2-3 months is obviously much more preferable in terms of public health than one in which we vaccinate half the number, but with only slightly greater protection. “
Pressure is growing on the government to control the spread of COVID-19, which has continued to reach new heights.
The United Kingdom recorded a record of 55,892 coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Thursday, as well as another 964 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
Meanwhile, just under half of England’s major hospitals currently have more COVID-19 patients than during the peak of the first wave last year.
But GPs have said changes to the way vaccines are given are “very unfair” to elderly patients with impending booster shots.
Dr. Richard Vautrey, chair of the BMA GP committee, said: “This group of very elderly patients has the highest risk of death if they contract COVID-19, which is why GPs are so concerned about them.”
“It is manifestly and grossly unfair for tens of thousands of our highest risk patients to now attempt to reschedule their appointments.
“Local leaders tell us that it is unprofessional and impractical to reschedule appointments for thousands of frail elderly patients, particularly those who have booked and who have already arranged to receive their second vaccination in the next two weeks.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a million people have been given the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine in the UK.
The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine will launch alongside the Pfizer jab starting Monday. The UK has orders for 100 million doses.
