How quickly will the vaccine be rolled out?
Consumer champion Which? explains the latest developments with the Pfizer vaccine, what safety measures are in place for rapidly produced vaccines and what this all means for hopes of a return to ‘normal’ life.
When will the vaccine be ready?
More needs to happen before the vaccine is ready to be rolled out to the public. The data we’ve seen from Pfizer was from a phase three trial, which is the final stage of testing a vaccine for safety and efficacy – so it’s an important step, and the numbers are looking good. But the trial needs to continue for a bit longer to build up more data, and then it has to undergo regulatory approval, involving more safety studies and a peer review of the data.
Who will get it first?
According to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises the government, the provisional ranking of priority groups for COVID-19 vaccination is as follows:
■ Elderly care-home residents and care-home workers
■ 80 years of age and over, and health and social care workers
■ 75 years of age and over
■ 70 years of age and over
■ 65 years of age and over
■ High-risk adults under 65 years of age
■ Moderate-risk adults under 65 years of age
■ 60 years of age and over
■ 55 years of age and over
■ 50 years of age and over
■ Rest of the population
This is subject to change, based on a few factors such as the suitability and/or efficacy of the first available vaccine for older people, and the transmission dynamics of COVID-19 in the UK population at the time a vaccine is ready to be deployed.
Will the vaccine be mandatory?
So far, it looks like the vaccine will be voluntary for adults and children (who are low down the priority list anyway due to their age).
Are there any issues with the vaccine?
It’s thought that if we want to return to ‘normal’ life, we need a vaccine, but scientists have stressed it’s not a silver bullet, and as the UK is currently in a ‘second wave’ of cases, it’s definitely not a time to relax our guard. There are significant issues in disseminating a vaccine globally. Depending on the type of vaccine, it may have specialist storage requirements that make it trickier in areas where the appropriate infrastructure doesn’t exist. For example, the Pfizer vaccine needs to be kept in very low temperatures. We also don’t know how long-lasting the immunity from a vaccine will be, and whether we’ll need booster shots or even a yearly injection, as there is for flu. It’s also unclear so far whether the vaccine will stop people from spreading the disease, or just stop them from getting very ill.
What problems might be encountered?
After this, the logistical challenges of producing and disseminating huge volumes of the vaccine around the world need to be met. In the case of the Pfizer vaccine, one stumbling block is the very low temperature the vaccine needs to be stored at (-70°C). Any vaccine that gets to this stage will also need to be monitored once it’s rolled out to the public. This monitoring will look out for things that may only start to be picked up with widespread use – for example, rarer side effects and long-term risks/benefits.
Why aren’t BAME people a priority?
Some have noticed the absence of BAME people as a priority group on the list. Earlier in the year there had been suggestions that BAME people could be among the first to be vaccinated, due to their higher risk level. Health secretary Matt Hancock said this week that the priority list currently looks this way because age is the strongest determining factor of morbidity. The JCVI noted that ‘as evidence of at-risk groups emerges, this work will inform the review of the composition and order of priority of groups for vaccination’ and also stressed that ‘any COVID-19 vaccination programme will need to ensure every effort is made to get good coverage in BAME groups, in areas of higher socio-economic deprivation, and in areas with outbreaks or high levels of community transmission.’
Are vaccines being rushed to quickly?
Some may feel concerned that vaccines are being ‘rushed out’. But COVID-19 vaccines are still going through the normal trial phases and regulatory processes for approval – these are simply being sped up. The Oxford Vaccine Group explains that to produce a vaccine more quickly than normal (the current record time is five years), phases are being run in an overlapping manner where possible, and provisions for regulatory approval, funding, manufacturing and logistics are being prepared earlier than they would be normally. This is to make sure that once a vaccine has gone through trials, the necessary structures are in place to get it going quickly.