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A record 343,000 people in the UK received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday as the NHS stepped up its effort to vaccinate 15 million people in mid-February.
Downing Street said it was increasingly confident it would hit the target as long as the supply was maintained, although with 25 days to go, it will take some 400,000 immunizations a day to stay on track.
A total of 4.6 million people have received a first dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech or Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK out of 15 million in the four highest priority groups, comprising nursing home residents, NHS and nursing home workers , elderly people. 70 years or older and those with serious medical conditions.
However, No. 10 acknowledged Wednesday that the number of daily doses will “fluctuate,” underscoring efforts to put more vaccination sites online. On Monday, the NHS provided 204,000 first doses, well below the target rate.
The ministers insist there is enough guaranteed supply from Pfizer and AstraZeneca to meet the target, but have declined to say how many doses are in the system, prompting complaints from the British Medical Association (BMA).
Richard Vautrey, chairman of the BMA’s GP committee, said that “despite having the staff and resources available, some GP-run centers are unable to vaccinate patients at the rate they could if they had access I continue to the vaccine. ” He asked the ministers to be honest about the amount of vaccine that was being prepared.
Some areas of the country, like Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, have just received their first supply of the vaccine “in the last few days,” according to local MP Rob Butler, who raised the issue in questions from the prime minister on Wednesday.
The government says it does not want to release detailed information on vaccine supplies, in part because it would allow other countries to see how much is available for the UK, an explanation that has surprised pharmaceutical industry sources in private.
Pfizer has said it is cutting production in Europe temporarily as it prepares to expand its manufacturing facility in Belgium. But AstraZeneca said it has already provided 1.1 million doses and will deliver 1 million or more this week, and 2 million a week by the middle of next month.
On Wednesday, Downing Street dismissed previous calls from Home Secretary Priti Patel to include police officers as one of the nine highest priority groups in the first phase of the vaccination program.
The prime minister’s spokesman said the government would stick to the priority list outlined above by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI): “We will continue to work on phase one. Medical experts have clearly established that it is those in phase one who are at the highest clinical risk. “
When asked if the police would move up the vaccination priority list, Patel had told LBC that she said that and other ministers were “working towards that” and “I have been telling law enforcement partners to get ready.” although he said that the final decisions were up to the independent JCVI.
Downing Street said police, teachers, fire service members and other key workers who come into contact with the public are likely to be considered a priority in the second phase of the mass vaccination, after everyone over 50 have been inoculated.
The prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “We are confident that we can achieve that goal by mid-February. The fact that we have been able to increase the amount of doses that we can do in a given day will obviously fluctuate. But we’ve been able to put more vaccination sites online as we go this month and next, and that will allow us to reach the goal. “
