Vaccine is on way to our hospitals
FIRST PEOPLE COULD THEORETICALLY GET IT AS EARLY AS MONDAY
HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock has revealed Derbyshire’s hospitals will be among the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
His comments came after the first vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech was approved for clinical use by regulators in the UK.
It means the first people could theoretically be given vaccines from as early as Monday.
The Royal Derby Hospital, Queens Hospital, Burton and Chesterfield Royal Hospital are on the top 50 list for those to receive the vaccine first.
HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock has revealed Derbyshire hospitals will be among the first in the country to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
His comments came after the first vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech was approved for clinical use by regulators in the UK.
It means the first people could theoretically be given vaccines from as early as Monday.
The Royal Derby Hospital, Queens Hospital, Burton and Chesterfield Royal Hospital are on the top 50 list for those to receive the vaccine first.
Mr Hancock said there would be “three modes of delivery” .
He said: “50 hospitals across the country are already set up and waiting to receive the vaccine as soon as it’s approved, so that can now happen. Also vaccination centres, which will be big centres where people can go to get vaccinated. They are being set up now. There will also be a community rollout, including GPs and pharmacists.
“Now, of course, because of the -70C storage conditions of this vaccine, they will be able to support this rollout where they have those facilities. But they’ll also be there should the AstraZeneca vaccine be approved because that doesn’t have these cold storage requirements and so is operationally easier to roll out.”
He added: “We’re the first country in the world to have a clinically-authorised vaccine to roll out.”
He went on: “So from early next week we will start that programme of vaccinating people against Covid19 here in this country. And as we know from earlier announcements, this vaccine is effective. The MHRA have approved it as clinically safe. And we have a vaccine, so it’s very good news.”
He said staff would vaccinate according to protecting the people who need protection most.
He said: “So, that is part of the plan. The plan is to get this rolled out, according to the clinical prioritisation that the advisers will set out.”
It was revealed care home residents and carers would be among the first to get the vaccine.
The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI) updated the list of priorities, after the UK approve the Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.
The full list of priority groups for the vaccine, announced by the JCVI.
■ Residents in care homes for older adults and their carers
■ People 80 and over and frontline health workers
■ People 75 and over
■ People 70 and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
■ People aged 65 and over
■ People 16-64 with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk
■ People 60 and over
■ People 55 and over
■ People aged 50 and over
The JCVI says that taken together, these groups represent around 99% of preventable deaths from Covid
19.