A MILLION JABS DONE NOW GET A MOVE ON

Hancock hails vaccination milestone But as medics fume over red tape...

A MILLION people in England have now been given a Covid-19 jab.

But serious questions remain about the race to vaccinate the rest of the nation – with retired medics trying to volunteer tied up in red tape.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock hailed the milestone, which was hit hours before the start of 2021. It marked a hopeful end to the year after the UK became the first country to approve the vaccine made by pharmaceutical firm Pfizer.

But with health workers set to start giving people a second jab developed by Oxford University on Monday, less than a month into the vaccine drive, serious problems are already starting to emerge.

Only 530,000 doses of the Oxford jab will be available from Monday – despite experts suggesting two million a week are needed.

And retired doctors and nurses offering their time and skills face mountains of red tape. Some have been asked for 21 documents proving they are trained in subjects such as counter-terrorism and racial equality. In other problems:

■ It is unclear how many people are being vaccinated each day, or why the 30million doses of the Oxford jab promised by September last year have not materialised;

■ The elderly face having their second Pfizer jab postponed to allow more people to be vaccinated;

■ Pfizer is at odds with the UK over the newly-recommended gap between jabs of up to 12 weeks, which was not tested in trials;

■ Britain has been put to shame by India, which has stockpiled up to 50million Oxford jab doses.

Virus cases are soaring, with 964 UK deaths and a record 55,892

positive tests logged yesterday. One major hospital said it was on the brink of being able to treat only Covid patients. After the Oxford vaccine was approved on Wednesday, there are now enough doses of that and the Pfizer jab on order to vaccinate every adult in the UK.

Inoculating two million a week would allow everyone over 50 in the UK to be given one of the jabs by early April.

A paper from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said hitting the two million a week mark would have a ‘much more substantial impact’ than the far slower rate achieved last month. But there will be only 530,000 doses of the Oxford vaccine approved and ready to roll out from Monday.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said in May that AstraZeneca, the firm manufacturing the Oxford jab, would work to make 30 million doses available by September. But only four million are understood to be potentially available pending checks, although tens of millions are due by the end of March.

Meanwhile, would-be volunteers are being asked to produce reams of documents. Nicola Thomas, a professor of kidney care at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, said: ‘To be asked for proof of address, two references and additional e-learning, including fire safety, is really too much to bear.’ It is understood the process is now set to be simplified.

The millionth vaccination in England yesterday came less than a month after Margaret Keenan, 90, was the first in the world to be inoculated on December 8.

But while the British grandmother has received her second dose of the jab, those whose appointment for a second injection falls after Monday are likely to have it rescheduled, with the gap increased to up to 12 weeks as part of moves to vaccinate more people. The British Medical Association has warned this would cause distress to the many elderly people first in line for jabs.

However, the UK’s chief medical officers last night ‘strongly supported’ the move. They said more people could be protected this way, adding: ‘Unvaccinated people are far more likely to end up severely ill, hospitalised or, in some cases, dying without a vaccine.’

Pfizer has pointed out that its vaccine has been trialled only with three weeks between doses, rather than up to 12.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘The vaccine is being rolled out as quickly as doses can be supplied and quality checked.’