‘Positive news’ Hospitals chief welcomes progression of vaccine
THE boss of the county’s two main hospitals has revealed she is “confident” about a covid vaccine being available and that she has told her teenage child they “will be partying next summer”.
Speaking on a live webcast on the Gloucestershire live Facebook page, Deborah Lee said there is a “fantastic supply” of the coronavirus vaccine but made clear they are “not through every hurdle”.
The local NHS chief also said that they have been “told to assume” healthcare staff in Gloucestershire might be vaccinated by “this side of Christmas”, adding “we are ready to roll”.
Four coronavirus vaccines have currently shown promising results in finalstage trials, including Oxford University’s vaccine shows it stops 70 per cent of developing covid symptoms.
The vaccines however still need to be approved by the UK regulator, HMRA, and safety checks still need to be completed.
Ms Lee, who is the chief executive of the trust which runs Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General hospitals, said that after Christmas the local NHS will start to mobilise the vaccine for the wider public, working downward through all age groups until “later in the Spring”.
She said: “We are the lead organisation so it is our job to mobilise this vaccine across Gloucestershire.
“That is for our own colleagues but also the wider Gloucestershire public at large. We are well-placed to do that, we are well on our way.
“We believe we have been told to assume that we might start vaccinating healthcare staff this side of Christmas, and we are ready to roll. That is very positive news.
“Then after Christmas we will then start to mobilise the vaccine for the wider public.
“Working through the age groups, so those that are 80-plus and coming down by the decade until later in the Spring when hopefully we will be vaccinating everybody.
“You have heard the headlines. There is fantastic supply in terms of the volume.
“We are not through every hurdle and I do not want to underestimate that check around safety that still has to happen. But the trial data is good in terms of efficacy, so whether it works, but also in terms of safety as well. I am personally confident we have got a vaccine being regulated and available.
“As I told my kids last night, I have got a very lonely, bored and frustrated 19-year-old at university.
“He will be partying next Summer, that is what I told him. You have heard it here.”
The Government said it was confident that some of the most vulnerable, at-risk groups will be vaccinated before Christmas, and most over-50s before next Spring.
More people may be offered a vaccine during 2021, if one is approved by the MHRA.