Vaccines could be the best Christmas present

FOR the first time in any December there is something even more important to look forward to than Christmas. We now have three vaccines which, in trials, have shown themselves to be 90 per cent effective against coronavirus.

Providing they get the regulator’s approval, which it is hoped will happen in the next two weeks, they will then immediately start to be administered to our most vulnerable.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines results showed they will stop someone getting the virus but the Oxford results showed their vaccine, developed with Astrazeneca, will stop someone getting infected and also stop them passing it on.

The Oxford vaccine has other things going for it too. It is much cheaper at around £2 per dose than the other two which range from £15 to £28, it can also be stored and transported in a normal

I know there are people who do not believe in vaccinations or are afraid of needles but I urge them to think seriously about the implications of not having the vaccine.

fridge while the other two require a deep freeze. It is also well suited to being given in the same way as the annual flu jab.

At the beginning of the pandemic, when scientists all over the world began their search for a vaccine, the Government ordered 340 million doses spread over a number of companies, an approach designed to try to ensure we would have access to one which showed good results. Back then it was felt good results would be a vaccine which was 50 per cent to 60 per cent successful.

The Government decided to order the highest number of doses, 100 million, of the Oxford vaccine and that confidence has paid off. That number added to the 40 million from Pfizer and five million from Moderna means we have enough effective vaccines to ensure all 52 million adults can be vaccinated by April or May next year.

Each person will receive an initial dose followed four weeks later by a booster dose and two weeks after that they will be protected from the virus.

The programme will be rolled out with Care Home residents and staff being first in line followed by NHS staff and the elderly and those with serious conditions. The aim is to get everyone over 50 vaccinated as soon as possible.

I know there are people who do not believe in vaccinations or are afraid of needles but I urge them to think seriously about the implications of not having the vaccine. They will not only be putting their own health at risk but the health of their family, friends and the wider public.

Just like the annual flu jab they are not live vaccines, they do not give you the virus. In the trials these vaccines have been tested on over 100,000 people of all ages and have produced data which showed they will not make you ill. Usually a vaccine will receive a licence after trials on 2,000 or 3,000 people.

So when you are invited go along, have your jab and know that the UK’S freedom from restrictions is within reach and normality is around the corner.

■The views and opinions of guest columnists do not necessarily represent those of either the Burton Mail or its staff