Kentish Express Ashford & District
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People in Ashford are among the first in the world to receive the coronavirus vaccine after it was rolled out at the town’s William Harvey Hospital on Tuesday.
The hospital is one of 50 hubs in the UK administering the initial wave of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
NHS staff worked throughout the weekend to prepare for the launch, following the government’s emergency authorisation to distribute the vaccine last week.
The UK ordered 40 million doses after the vaccine was shown to be 95% effective having been tested on 43,000 people, with no safety concerns.
The vaccine, which arrived at the William Harvey on Monday, is manufactured in the town of Puurs in Belgium. It is extremely temperature-sensitive and has to be stored in temperatures between -70C and -80C.
Who will get the vaccine?
Care home residents and carers, patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient, and those who are being discharged home after a hospital stay will be among the first to receive the jab.
The William Harvey will also begin inviting over 80s in for a jab and work with care home providers to book their staff in to vaccination clinics.
Any appointments not used for these groups will be used for healthcare workers who are at highest risk of serious illness from Covid-19.
When further supplies of the vaccine become available, vaccination centres will also open in sporting venues and conference centres, with the capacity to treat large numbers of patients.
NHS England has drawn up a priority list to reveal who can expect to be invited to have the vaccine administered.
Children and people aged 16 to 49 without underlying health conditions are not being treated as a priority, due to the threat of the virus to elderly people and those with pre-existing medical issues.
Pregnant women will not be part of the vaccine programme for the time being, as no pregnant women were included in the trials conducted.
Children under 12 are also excluded as they were not included in the trial, and there is not enough data available on children between 12 to 15 to allow that age group to receive the dose.
Although Tuesday was the beginning of the rollout, it will take a little longer for vaccinations to be administered on a large scale.
A small number of GP-led primary care services across the UK will begin delivering the jab from next week, with more practices expected to begin throughout December and into 2021.
Eventually NHS England expects large-scale vaccination centres to be able to deliver the vaccine to more people, as a larger supply of doses becomes available.
What happens after getting the vaccine?
Those receiving the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the William Harvey this week will be asked to return in three weeks for a second dose.
The reason two doses are needed is because the second shot is required for the body to attain immunity to the virus.
During its trial process, only mild side effects were reported from people who were administered doses.
These included fatigue and headaches after the second dose but this was only 4% and 2% respectively.
Another side effect was muscle pain in the place participants had received the injection, but as Özlem Türeci, chief medical officer at BioNTech explained, that is a common reaction with a vaccination of other types too. Speaking last week, deputy chief medical officer for England Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said: “To all those who are eligible – this is the start of vaccine supply for the UK.
“In time, you will be invited to book your appointments to get your vaccinations. I urge you to be ready, and to help make the process as smooth as possible. For now, stay patient, and keep yourselves safe by continuing to follow the rules and maintaining social distancing.”
Will people receiving the vaccine still be able to transmit Covid?
The trial conducted by the pharmaceutical giant was not designed to test whether the vaccine can prevent transmission of coronavirus, so it is not clear yet.
Speaking to the American network NBC last week, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said: “I think this is something that needs to be examined. We are not certain about that right now with what we know.”
Studies are ongoing.