AT LAST! A TURBO BOOSTER FOR JABS
After Mail pressure on chaotic rollout...
APPROVAL of Covid vaccine batches is to be sped up drastically in a huge boost to the jab campaign.
Amid growing concern over the slow pace of the rollout, sources told the Mail that testing would be cut from up to 20 days to just four.
The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, which is responsible for the checks, is also to increase staffing in a bid to accelerate the mass vaccination programme.
It has just approved a second consignment of 500,000 doses of the Oxford jab – taking supplies beyond one million.
The vaccine is crucial because it is much easier to distribute than the Pfizer version, which needs storage at minus 70C.
MPs have questioned why only half a million doses of Oxford’s jab were available in the first week – despite promises that 30million would be ready last September.
Coronavirus deaths yesterday surged past 1,000 for the first time since April, while cases soared to another record high of 62,322.
The Mail has highlighted a string of issues with the vaccine rollout,
which is critical to reducing the toll of the pandemic and ultimately lifting coronavirus restrictions. A Government source acknowledged yesterday that the initial rollout of the Oxford jab had gone ‘slowly’, but promised a big acceleration toward the end of this week.
Further details will be revealed this evening when NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens appears at a Downing Street press briefing. The plan is expected to include: Hundreds of GP practices receiving their first Oxford vaccines today, which will speed up the rollout to care homes;
Seven huge vaccination centres opening next week in London, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Surrey and Hertfordshire;
Community pharmacies joining the vaccination scheme within days, despite fears they would be excluded;
Superdrug being used as part of the NHS vaccination effort;
Drive-through vaccinations in the car parks of Morrisons stores from Monday;
1,000 vaccination centres – including hospitals and GP centres – being in operation by the end of the week;
Doctors being told to prioritise jabs over other treatments, according to a report last night.
Doubts about the plan to inject 13million vulnerable people by the middle of February have been growing since Boris Johnson plunged the country into lockdown on Monday night.
Issues included the bureaucracy faced by volunteer vaccinators, supplies of jabs to care homes, the distribution network and the length of time it took for each batch to be approved. Until now the MHRA’s National Institute for Biological Standards and Control has checked batches one at a time at its site in Hertfordshire.
That time-consuming process has been blamed for slowing down the deployment. Only 530,000 of four million available doses of the Oxford jab had passed the assessments before last night.
The process has been changed so that more than one batch can be assessed at a time, cutting the timescale from up to 20 days to as little as four or five. An MHRA spokesman said: ‘We are working closely with the manufacturer, AstraZeneca, to ensure batches of the vaccine are released as quickly as possible.
‘Biological medicines such as vaccines are very complex in nature and independent testing, as done by the National Institute, is vital to ensure quality and safety.
‘The institute has scaled up its capacity to ensure that multiple batches can be tested simultaneously, and that this can be done as quickly as possible, without compromising quality and safety.’
Delivery of the Oxford jab to 775 GP surgeries, which will take place from today, is another crucial step. It will allow a significant acceleration of vaccination within care homes, where only 10 per cent of residents have received the jab so far.
Until now only hospitals have received the Oxford vaccine. In the Commons yesterday, Tory MPs urged Mr Johnson to accelerate the rollout of the vaccine so lockdown restrictions could be lifted as soon as possible.
Huw Merriman, member for Bexhill and Battle, said: ‘Every vaccination jab in the arm should be viewed as a pupil who can return to the classroom.’
‘Ensuring quality and safety’
FOR Britain’s sake, this newspaper has been asking searching questions of the Government amid mounting concerns over its chaotic vaccine strategy.
The public, shunted into another crushing lockdown, are entitled to know ministers are straining every fibre to dispatch the jabs – bringing an end to this nightmare.
With the stakes so high, needless delays because of pettifogging bureaucracy, unforced blunders and public sector mulishness would be unforgivable.
Yet the silence on the immunisation programme has been deafening. Yes, this is indisputably the UK’s biggest challenge in peacetime. But the lack of transparency and apparent inaction has left a queasy feeling.
Too often during this crisis, Boris Johnson has overpromised and under-delivered. Was this to be another gargantuan let-down?
Mercifully, signs are now emerging that the rollout is accelerating. About time!
Out of the blue, GPs were told they would receive their first batches of the gamechanging Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. Stringent safety checks will be speeded up.
Clock-watching Public Health England panjandrums will work 24/7. And absurd red tape hampering retired medics from helping inoculate patients will be slashed.
Without the remorseless glare of scrutiny, would the Government have felt compelled to act with such alacrity? One wonders.
It’s vital the effort hits hyper-speed. Not only because the drumbeat of deaths rose yesterday by more than 1,000 as the superinfectious strain ripped across the UK.
But because we must escape these stifling restrictions. Every day we stay locked down, the more devastating the damage to the economy, our children’s education and the nation’s health and well-being.
The burden of responsibility on the Prime Minister is enormous. Nevertheless, he must be clear and upfront with the public.