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Hundreds of new vaccination sites are expected to be up and running this week as the NHS expands its coronavirus immunization program.
About 530,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Oxford University will be available across the UK from Monday.
At first, only a small number of hospitals will distribute the vaccine, but after a few days, most doses will be sent to hundreds of services run by GPs.
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Oxford vaccine ready for deployment
There are already more than 700 of these sites, according to NHS England, but hundreds more in hospitals and run by GPs will launch this week.
One of the first hospitals to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Saturday morning was the Princess Royal Hospital at Haywards Heath, part of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.
Dr. George Findlay, the trust’s chief medical officer and deputy chief executive, said the vaccination program gives NHS staff “more confidence” to start working.
“We started vaccinating at our other hospital a few weeks ago. It has been seen as a really positive step, something that gives the staff more confidence to come to work,” he said.
“You just have to look at the statistics from the last 10 months on how many staff members have suffered illness or sadly lost their lives.
“This gives staff the confidence to come to work and be able to see patients.”
It occurs about a month after the approval of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, which has been administered to more than one million people in the UK.
Second doses will be administered within 12 weeks of the first, rather than the initially planned 21 days, in an effort to maximize coverage.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We know we still have challenges ahead of us in the weeks and months to come, but I am confident that this is the year that we will defeat the coronavirus and begin to rebuild better.”
On Saturday, the UK registered another 57,725 coronavirus cases – your highest daily total. Additionally, 445 people died within 28 days of testing positive.
Meanwhile, Public Health England (PHE) has said it does not recommend mix coronavirus vaccines from different suppliers amid fears of possible shortages.
Both the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine require two doses.
The UK government had issued guidance telling NHS doctors that if a person who received their first coronavirus puncture returns for their second but the same type is not available, or if the first type of vaccine is unknown, then it is “reasonable” to offer a dose of another vaccine.
Dr Mary Ramsay, chief of immunizations at PHE, has told Sky News that mixing is not recommended and should only occur “on rare occasions.”
