Push for one million jabs a day to save summer

Ministers aim to drastically step up doses in race to check spread of Indian variant

THE Government wants to vaccinate as many as one million people a day as part of a drive to beat the Indian variant of Covid-19 and save the British summer, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.

As a first step, ministers have told MPs they “safely” expect to increase daily doses from 500,000 to 800,000 within a fortnight, by using a stockpile of 3.2million doses.

Government insiders hope this daily rate could be further increased, with the possibility of reaching a peak of around one million during some days over the summer.

A further boost to the vaccination push could come this week when the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is expected to give the green light for Johnson & Johnson’s single dose Janssen vaccine.

Ministers hope to keep daily doses at “800,000 and above”, putting the country on course to eventually one million first and second jabs a day.

Last night, the Royal College of GPs raised concerns that the Government’s decision to bring forward second doses for over-50s could mean younger people have to wait “a while longer”.

But senior government sources confirmed that despite the need to focus on second jabs, first doses will be offered “to the over-35s in the coming days”.

More than 600,000 appointments for a Covid jab were booked in just 48 hours after the NHS vaccination programme was opened up to people aged 38 and 39 on Thursday.

In other developments yesterday: Doctors were told by NHS England not to rearrange second doses for over50s booked for the next 10 days, but from May 25 any appointment that is more than eight weeks after their first dose must be brought forward.

Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, said the Indian variant posed a risk to live events after June 21 when all restrictions are meant to be lifted.

Vaccination buses were deployed to areas such as Bolton and Blackburn after high numbers of variant infections were identified.

Ministers will review progress of efforts to contain the spread of the Indian variant at a meeting of the Cabinet Office’s Covid-O committee in the next few days, after further restrictions are eased from tomorrow.

Discussions have reportedly taken place among ministers on the prospect of reimposing local lockdowns on areas with high prevalence of the variant.

Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, was among those calling for tougher measures, while Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor, is known to oppose additional restrictions. However, they instead chose to combine the acceleration in second jabs with the so-called “whack-a-mole” strategy of testing

‘We must ensure vaccine supplies are prioritised for groups where they are going to have the most impact’

locally and isolating anyone with the virus. There are also concerns among MPs that the decision to bring forward second doses for over-50s could lead to vaccine supply issues, but Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, and Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, eased their concerns in conference calls late last week.

In one call, Mr Zahawi insisted the NHS was “drawing down as fast as the supplies come in”, said one witness.

Ministers are confident that the army of 200,000 vaccination volunteers – including 80,000 vaccinators – will be enough to handle the expected surge in demand.

One insider said: “We have got to bear down on infection rates. We have still got a sizeable percentage of the population that is unvaccinated, and even if you are vaccinated, it is not 100 per cent protection against infection.”

Ministers rejected one plan to vaccinate all over-18s in places where the Indian variant is spreading because it would stop those in their 30s and 40s who are at much higher risk from being inoculated.

One source said: “It takes three weeks for the protection to kick in to reduce transmission. Surge testing, contact tracing and isolation … will control infections much more quickly.”

Yesterday, Anthony Harnden, the deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation, said the Indian variant may make vaccines less effective against mild disease, but not serious disease, as he defended the decision to bring forward second doses.

Prof Martin Marshall, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, said the “sudden change” to the vaccination schedule “could mean that younger people who are not clinically vulnerable may have to wait a while longer”.

But he added: “We must ensure that vaccine supplies are prioritised for those groups where they are going to have the most impact and be most beneficial for the wider population.”

There were long queues in Bolton yesterday, where younger people were told not to turn up and expect to get a vaccine, despite reports suggesting “anyone” could queue for a jab.

Questions were also being asked about why Boris Johnson did not stop all flights from India when the new variant first emerged.

Analysis of air traffic figures indicates an average of 900 people were arriving daily from India during the three-week period – 20,000 between April 2 and April 23. One plan expected to get the green light is for Heathrow Terminal 2 to be set aside solely for arrivals from red list countries to avoid the risk of mixing at arrivals.

The Government was unable to say whether the final June 21 release of lockdown restrictions will go ahead, with one report saying any final decision might not be made until the week before. Tory MPs increased pressure on

Mr Johnson, who warned on Friday that the Indian variant “could be a serious disruption to our progress” in lifting lockdown.

Writing in today’s Sunday Telegraph, Steve Baker, deputy chairman of the Covid Recovery Group of Tory MPs, said that June 21 “is the date by which freedom truly means freedom”.

And writing for The Telegraph’s website, Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality said Britain’s pubs, restaurants and hotels would need more public money to pay rent and rates if the June 21 opening date is delayed.

She said: “If there is to be any delay, which we truly hope there will not be, the Government must recognise the cost to our beleaguered sector – which has seen a two thirds decline in sales over the past year.”