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The health service is preparing to administer COVID-19 vaccines before Christmas if a jab is ready, the executive director of NHS England said.
Sir Simon Stevens told BBC Radio 4’s Today show: “There are more than 200 vaccines in development and we think hopefully we should get one or more of those available from the first part of next year.
“In anticipation of that, we are also preparing the NHS so that it is ready to start managing COVID-19 shots before Christmas, if available. “
He said that an “agreement” has been reached with GPs to ensure this happens.
He added: “This week we will write to GPs to prepare them to start at Christmas if the vaccine is available.”
On Tuesday, GP Pulse magazine reported that GPs are waiting begin vaccinating those over 85 and front-line healthcare workers early next month.
A coronavirus The vaccine has not yet been approved and will need to go through regulators to confirm that it is safe and effective before it can be offered to the public.
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There are two pioneers who are currently in late-stage clinical trials and could send clinical data to regulators in a few weeks.
These are potential vaccines from the German company BioNtech and the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer, and from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.
Although, Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force, warned that the first generation of COVID-19 vaccines “is probably imperfect” and “It may not work for everyone.”
Last week, he wrote in the medical journal The Lancet: “We must be prepared so that they do not prevent infection, but reduce symptoms, and even then they may not work for everyone or for long.”
Follow warnings from government scientists that the NHS will be overwhelmed with thousands more deaths unless action is taken.
Sir Stevens said: “In many parts of the country, we are now seeing more hospitalized coronavirus and intensive care patients than we saw in the first peak of April.
He added that the health service is “adding as much capacity as it can” in anticipation of the usual pressures of winter and COVID patients.
But he said people should do everything they can to keep infection rates low to ensure that other services – routine operations and cancer care – can be preserved.
“Obviously, we are adding as much capacity as we can in anticipation not only of the coronavirus, but also of the additional pressures of winter that always accompany this time of year,” he said.
“And the reason we want to try to minimize the number of coronavirus infections and patients is not only because of the excessive mortality rate that this implies, but because of the consequences it has for other services: routine operations, cancer care .
“So if we want to preserve those other services so that the health service can continue to help the entire range of patients, we must do everything we can, together, to keep the rate of coronavirus infection low.”
A committee that advises the government on vaccines has already established which groups should be prioritized to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Residents and nursing home workers should be the first to receive any approved vaccine, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization said.
Subsequently, all people over 80 years of age and health and welfare workers should be the next to take the hit.
Overall, there are more than 200 vaccine candidates in development worldwide, with 44 in clinical trials.
Of the 44, nine are in phase three of clinical evaluation and are being administered to thousands of people to confirm safety and efficacy.
