ON ITS WAY
Thousands set for virus jab next week after it is approved
A LORRY loaded with Covid-19 vaccines leaves a Pfizer site yesterday after its jab got the green light for use here.
Immunisation ation of the vulnerable will begin next week – as the UK became the first to approve the injection.
Trucks left ft Belgium with 800,000 doses. Boris is Johnson hailed the move. Immunologist unologist Arne Akbar said: “This is amomentous a momentous day.”
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Conventional vaccines use weakened forms of the virus, but mRNAs use only the virus’s genetic code to tell cells to create antigens, which are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.
No actual virus is needed to create an mRNA vaccine, meaning it can be produced more speedily.
WHEN CAN I GET IT?
Initial batches of the Pfizer jab available this year are likely to be given to vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and health and care staff.
Among NHS staff, those most at risk, such as black and Asian workers, and those most exposed to the public may get the jab first. Draft plans suggest members of the public under 70 will not be vaccinated until the New Year. By then other jabs, such as Oxford University’s, are likely to be available in huge numbers.
People under 50 will likely have to wait until January and March. Approval for children could come later, but the MHRA emergency use authorisation is for ages 16 or over.
HOW WILL I GET IT?
The NHS will write to members of the public to invite them to go to be vaccinated at a local centre. Two doses will be administered 21 days apart and full immunity is achieved seven days after the second dose.
ARE BLACK & MINORITY PEOPLE BEING PRIORITISED?
Although black, Asian and minority ethnic people are at increased risk, the Joint Biosecurity Centre did not consider that significant enough to place someone in a higher priority band. Age is by far the biggest factor in establishing individual risk from Covid-19.
WHERE WILL I BE VACCINATED?
Initially, vaccinations are likely to
take place in 50 hospital hubs. GP-led clinics will be next to receive dose deliveries in the coming weeks.
There are then likely to be “roving teams” deployed to vaccinate people in care homes and vulnerable, housebound people, possibly transporting doses by motorbike.
Mass vaccination centres may also be kitted out with ultra-cold storage facilities to store and administer much of the Pfizer jabs. Pharmacies will start administering doses from January, when vaccination of the bulk of the population will take place.
WHO WILL VACCINATE ME?
Rules have been changed to allow
those who are not healthcare professionals give the jab, but they will all be supervised by a healthcare professional such as a doctor or nurse. NHS volunteers who signed up at the start of the pandemic are being drafted in for the mass vaccination effort.
More than 400,000 offered to give their time in the spring and it is hoped they will help as “volunteer vaccinators”. Volunteers without medical training can apply through the GOODSAM app to give injections working with St John Ambulance.
WILL I NEED IT EVERY YEAR?
It is unclear how long immunity lasts. Clinical trials of all the major vaccines
are ongoing, and they will track how long participants avoid reinfection.
New improved vaccines are likely to be developed in the next year, so if one is required annually it may not be one of those first approved this year.
WHY HAS BRITAIN APPROVED A VACCINE FIRST?
The UK has achieved the fastest approval of the Pfizer vaccine because it conducted a “rolling review”, with investigators involved in clinical trials from June, rather than waiting for completion to start data analysis.
Batches were tested as they were manufactured but before final effectiveness data was revealed to those conducting trials. Such a vaccine involves three phases of trials. In the case of Covid-19 the next phase began before the previous one concluded, in the knowledge that it could be scrapped or restarted if the previous phase went on to publish poor results.
IS IT SAFE?
Clinical trial data on 43,500 people in six countries detected no serious side effects. Side effects included a sore arm or fever and usually did not last longer than a day. The MHRA will launch a “yellow card” reporting system, inviting members of the public to report side effects.