VACCINES BRING HOPE BUT THE RACE IS NOT YET WON
We start this year as we said goodbye to 2020, with people in all parts of the United Kingdom once again making sacrifices to save lives and protect our amazing NHS.
At this dark hour, we mourn the lives that are being lost to this cruel virus. Infection rates are running high, the new Covid-19 variant is spreading fast and our skilled health professionals are under increasing pressure.
In sad and fraught times for many, we are grateful for everything you are doing to stop the virus in its tracks, to protect you and those you love.
The darkest hour, however, comes before the dawn. Christmas was a difficult time for so many of us – I could not see my parents in Aberdeen nor celebrate Hogmanay as usual.
This is not the New Year any of us wanted but we can look forward to the return of the light.
Our vaccine programme is our path out of lockdown to more normal lives – vaccines pioneered in the UK, trialled in the UK and made in the UK, to protect the people of the UK and the world.
Our immunisation programme was launched in the Midlands of england shortly before Christmas, when 90-yearold Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world to be protected by an approved Covid-19 jab.
Soon afterwards, frontline health staff were lining up for their Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines at the Western General in edinburgh and elsewhere – and the programme continues to accelerate.
Last week saw the launch of the new UK vaccine – a brilliant initiative from Oxford University and AstraZeneca; testament to the skill and determination of scientists here and abroad who sought ways to beat the virus even as their NHS colleagues fought to deal with its destructive power. From lab to jab in under a year is a truly world-beating achievement.
THe UK Government invested over £88million in developing the vaccine, which underwent clinical trials in Glasgow and edinburgh, as well as South Wales and other centres around the country.
It is, by a significant margin, the most sought-after in the world. It is easier to transport, cheaper to produce and simpler to store than other options. Countries have so far ordered nearly three billion doses: the UK Government’s current order of 100million doses allows us to vaccinate t he UK’s adult population.
And there is another reason to admire Oxford/AstraZeneca’s achievement. By making its vaccine available on a not-for-profit basis during the pandemic, and in perpetuity to low and middleincome countries, it has brought hope to people not just in these islands but the world over.
We can be justly proud of the UK’s contribution to fighting the transmission of coronavirus, and to limiting the ravages of the pandemic.
The UK was first out of the blocks in the vaccine race. But this is not a race against other countries. It is a race against the virus, one in which we must still dig deep to win.
That means getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, starting with the most vulnerable. Well over a million citizens have already been vaccinated and later today, in the House of Commons, the Government will set out our detailed plans for going further, faster.
So far, the UK Government has secured access to a total of 357million vaccine doses for the four nations of the UK, through agreements with seven separate vaccine developers – maximising our chances of securing a safe and effective jab for people at the fastest rate possible.
One of these potential new vaccines is being developed in West Lothian, by scientists working for the global biotech firm Valneva. If the vaccine is approved, the Government has agreed in principle to buy 60million doses. The new Valneva plant at Livingston is good for Scottish j obs and good f or industry.
It establishes the permanent capability in the UK to manufacture inactivated viral vaccines, among the most proven and widely used vaccine formats, and from this year could produce up to 200million doses annually of Covid-19 viral vaccines.
IN this team effort, the UK Government has bought the vaccines and is making sure that every nation gets their fair share, in a well- ordered supply – enabling the Scottish Government and the NHS in Scotland to carry out regular vaccinations. During conversations with the First Minister in the past few days, I am glad to say we are united in our ambition to get the vaccine rolled out as urgently as possible.
More than 100,000 people have been vaccinated in Scotland so f ar and considerably more vaccines have already been supplied in order that the NHS in Scotland can continue its rollout of i mmunisations in priority groups.
even those who have been vaccinated, however, must continue to take precautions and live by the letter of our lockdowns, wherever in the UK we are. The end is in sight, but now is not the time to celebrate.
We can be very proud of what our scientists have achieved so far. And we owe it to them to stay at home, save lives and protect our NHS.