Use the Army and private sector in vaccination drive
Worth a Shot calls for the Government to explore all available avenues of assistance, including calling up the Armed Forces. They are logistic experts with world class medics.
WE ARE at a critical juncture in our response to the coronavirus pandemic. Having entered another cycle of on-and-off- and- on- again lockdowns, it is increasingly clear that our hopes for normality rest in mass vaccinations.
Thankfully, incredible scientists from across the globe have risen to the challenge and delivered multiple effective vaccines in record time. Now, it rests on our Government to successfully implement a vaccination strategy that will save lives.
Many will say that the UK leads the world in vaccination rollout. While this is partially true, with rates ahead of our European counterparts, there is still significant room for improvement.
That is why the Adam Smith Institute has released a new report, Worth A Shot, which outlines 22 recommendations the Government should investigate to reach an ambitious, but feasible, target of six million vaccinations a week.
We are currently vaccinating at a rate of 300,000 per week, so while it seems a monumental undertaking, there are clear lessons to be learned from past experience, our international allies and industry expertise.
We identify two main areas to be addressed: supply and distribution. Without sufficient supply, there are not enough vaccines to go around, and without efficient distribution, the available vaccines won’t reach the people they need to. Right now, the UK has a fairly consistent supply of vaccines, with only small stresses on bottling facilities. Supply bottlenecks have much clearer solutions, including Government supporting businesses involved in production of vaccinations and stockpiling soon- to- be- approved vaccines like Moderna and Novavax.
Distribution is where the bulk of the improvements need to be made. Worth a Shot calls for the Government to explore all available avenues of assistance, including calling up the Armed Forces. They are logistic experts, with experience establishing field hospitals and long supply chains, world class medics, and an organised workforce with clear chains of command. They proved invaluable in Liverpool when they implemented mass testing.
The Government must overcome their resistance to the private sector and utilise all expertise available instead of rebuffing offers of assistance from the private sector, including Boots, which has experience delivering vaccines each year, and Tesco. Both are leaders in logistic capacity and have access to industrialgrade refrigeration.
It is difficult to justify such a decision, especially given the Government’s struggles to deliver public health programmes at scale. In 2020, an overly centralised command and control approach to testing and Track and Trace resulted in abject failure, putting us in a compromised position in this fight. We cannot allow the Government, the NHS, and Public Health England to repeat these mistakes again.
Worth a Shot also addresses the challenges that the UK’s centralised approach plays in reaching remote or less densely populated areas. In order to protect our citizens we must reach every corner of this nation. That is why we recommend the implementation of drivein centres and mobile vaccination vans, which would reduce waiting times and risk of aerosol transmission.
We must also eschew time- consuming and wasteful policies which limit the number of volunteers who can help.
There are thousands of trained medical professionals who are willing and able to assist but burdened by red tape in the shape of repetitive forms and outdated training requirements.
By streamlining the process, we could rapidly expand the ‘ Jabs Army’ and lessen the strain on NHS workers, who have enough going on. Further to this, we should allow vaccination sites to immediately implement ‘ walk- in’ appointments at the end of the day to use vials at risk of expiring.
And if you wonder how all of this would allow us to vaccinate at a rate of six million per week, you need only look at Israel, the most successful country in the world at vaccinating. Thus far, they have vaccinated more than 16 per cent of their population, a rate of 10 times the UK. They have successfully implemented drive- in vaccination centres, walk- in appointments to fill spare capacity, engaged community leaders and are running a full fledged publicity campaign.
By the Prime Minister’s own targets, set at 13.9 million vaccinations by mid-February, we must start vaccinating at a rate of almost two million people per week, immediately. The Government must act now to explore all possible options for assistance and streamlining, and engage the expertise of the Armed Forces and private sector. Every day that we delay, the task becomes more daunting and lives remain at risk.