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Britain could start distributing a coronavirus vaccine by Christmas, the deputy chief medical officer said as he and Boris Johnson praised “a significant scientific breakthrough” but warned the public of the obstacles that lie ahead.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said the news that the large-scale trials showing the Pfizer / BioNTech candidate is 90% effective was “very exciting,” but warned that no vaccine would come soon enough to stop the significant restrictions on public life during the second wave.
“I’m hopeful … but I’m not sure yet that we can start to see any shots for Christmas,” he said. He said the progress was significant for other vaccines in development as well. “Almost all the vaccines that come out also target protein S,” he said.
“This is like reaching the end of a playoff final, it has gone to penalties. The first player goes up, scores the goal. You haven’t won the cup yet, but what it does tell you is that the goalkeeper can be defeated. And that’s where we are today that first sign.
Johnson said the vaccine was “very, very early”, but the UK would be ready to distribute it. “I have [talked] over the distant bugle of the scientific cavalry approaching the top of the hill. I can tell you that tonight the cornet is stronger, but there is still a little left. We cannot absolutely rely on this news as a solution. “
He said that if Pfizer’s vaccine passed all rigorous safety checks, the UK had ordered 40 million doses for about a third of the population, as two doses are needed each, and “that puts us at the forefront of the pack. international on a capita basis ”.
Van-Tam said seniors would be first in line for vaccination, and prioritization decided by an independent committee.
“By far, age is the highest priority for patients who need vaccines the most and need to get those vaccines first,” he said. “You can expect an age-increasing topic to be top priority to be a companion topic as we move on this journey.”
However, Johnson cautioned that Sage’s advice on Friday found that the R-number, which shows reproduction, was still above one in England, albeit without taking into account current national restrictions, and that deaths had doubled by 24 days.
“We are heading towards the levels of the previous peak,” he said. “Neither mass testing nor vaccine progress, although both are vital arrows in our epidemiological quiver … they are not a substitute for national restrictions.”
Van-Tam said the result was “a drink, but not a summer” and said that people could expect the restrictions on socializing to continue for some time.
He said he couldn’t guarantee that people would be able to hug their grandparents or kiss their dates before Easter, but said if the vaccines were distributed it would make a “significant difference in the kind of disease levels that we see in the UK right now. “.
He said it was not yet clear what effect a coronavirus vaccine would have on transmitting the disease. “Once these vaccines start rolling out, over a period of time they will make a significant difference in the kind of level of disease that we see in the UK right now,” he said.
“Whether they reduce transmission is something we do not know yet and that is a crucial factor that will understand how far vaccines take us towards the kind of future you aspire to. We are working on that. We are very aware of what is needed ”.
“We still don’t know what this means for when we can get back to normal, when we can start to lift some of the restrictions that we live under,” he said.
“Frankly, we are in the middle of the second wave, and I don’t see that the vaccine makes any difference to the wave that we are in now. I am hopeful that it can prevent future waves, but this one we have to fight to the end without vaccines. “
Johnson said the next step was speeding up the mass tests, hinting that they could be used to help students go home for Christmas. However, he also urged people in Liverpool to get tested as part of the city’s massive test pilot, which aims to test hundreds of thousands over the past week.
However, he said that this is also a project “still in its infancy” and that social distancing measures and restrictions are still necessary. Brigadier Joe Fossey, the commander of the massive testing program in Liverpool that is being carried out by the military, said he “anticipated [testing] to increase very rapidly this week. “
