Moderna jabs ‘to arrive next month’
THE UK is expecting to receive its first shipment of a new coronavirus vaccine next month, a Cabinet minister has confirmed, amid challenges in international supplies.
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden expressed confidence that the first Moderna jabs are still on course to arrive in April, in what would be a relief for the overall vaccine rollout programme.
He was doubtful, though, over the resumption of non-essential international travel and acknowledged all legal restrictions may not end in June as is hoped, after a Government adviser raised concerns about the full relaxation.
Vaccine supplies have been affected by issues in India, where a temporary hold on Astrazeneca exports has been imposed, and there has been trepidation because of a row with the European Union over exports.
However, Mr Dowden insisted the vaccination programme remains “on course” to hit the target of offering a jab to all adults by July.
“We expect that in April Moderna will come,” he told The Andrew Marr Show.
With 17 million doses ordered by the Government, the U.S. vaccine has been
approved for use in the UK and would be the third to be rolled out after Oxford/ Astrazeneca and Pfizer.
Professor Adam Finn, from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said quantities of the Moderna vaccine will be more limited than the Astrazeneca and Pfizer ones.
He said: “I think we have all been clear from the outset that the quantities that Moderna are capable of providing are likely to be many fewer doses than we are seeing from Astrazeneca and Pfizer.
“Partly because they are a small outfit and partly because they are primarily directing their supplies towards the US rather than Europe.
“So I don’t think it’s a game-changer, I think it’s an incremental change.”
Professor Mark Woolhouse, who advises the Government on the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spim), said he was “a little bit nervous about a full relaxation” planned for June 21.
He told the BBC the road map to easing restrictions in England must be “guided by the data” particularly on vaccines, adding: “The idea that we can suddenly emerge from this in one great bound, I think, is a little over-optimistic.”
Mr Dowden said another lockdown “is the last thing in the world we would want to do” but said dates in the road map may slip if things worsen. “Of course they could be delayed if the situation deteriorates but at the moment we’re on track,” he told Marr.
Meanwhile, the public were warned not to “squander the gains” made in the pandemic as a major easing of the lockdown allows greater freedoms outside.
Groups of up to six, or two households, will be able to socialise in parks and gardens once more and outdoor sports facilities will reopen as the stay-at-home order ends in England today.