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The first doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine will be administered today in the UK in what the government has described as a “pivotal moment” in the fight against the coronavirus.
Some 530,000 doses will be available, initially at six trust hospitals: Oxford, Sussex, Lancashire, Warwickshire and two in London.
Most of the supplies will then be sent to more than 700 services and family-run care homes.
The government expects to deliver tens of millions of doses in months, with the reported goal of administering two million a week.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This is a crucial moment in our fight against this terrible virus and I hope it gives everyone renewed hope that the end of this pandemic is in sight.”
So far, around a million people in the UK have received the other approved vaccine, which is produced by Pfizer and BioNTech.
However, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and easier to store and transport.
The spread of the new, more transmissible variant has forced the government to prioritize giving the first dose of the vaccine to as many people as possible, rather than focusing on giving the two full doses to a smaller group of people first.
But challenges remain in implementing vaccination and meeting the government’s goal of vaccinations per week.
The Daily Telegraph quoted an unidentified health source as saying that people shouldn’t expect large numbers overnight.
They added: “We have never said that we will do two million injections a week. We have to manage expectations. You cannot vaccinate two million people a week out of the blue. People will be disappointed by the numbers if the expectations are too high. high “.
The one million doses administered so far equate to about 250,000 doses each week.
There have been reports that vaccination centers are subject to a zip code lottery, with some people living many miles from their closest center.
There are also reports that there may be a shortage of vaccine doses, people to administer them, and critical materials like the glass used to make vials.
Rochdale and Bury LMC President Dr. Mohammed Jiva told Sky News that his area had the capacity to vaccinate 8,000 people per week, but he was only receiving enough vaccine doses for 3,000 people.
Speaking of his experience administering the Pfizer vaccine, he added: “It has been quite slow in terms of the things we need from the government.
“Demand from the public has been high, but unfortunately we have not had enough vaccines to meet the needs of the local population.
“It is a supply problem, not only of the vaccine, but of the other consumables that accompany it. In the first batch, there was not enough saline solution to mix with the vaccine and we did not have enough syringes and needles.”
Comes like 54,990 others tested positive on COVID-19 in the UK, the sixth day in a row that new daily cases have exceeded 50,000.
Another 454 people have died with coronavirus, show government figures.
The total number of people who have died in the 28 days after a positive coronavirus test in the UK stands at 75,024.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock will appear live on Sky News this morning around 7 a.m.
