By NHS gears up for December vaccinations
The NHS has been asked to be ready to deploy a coronavirus vaccine from the start of December, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said today (Tuesday).
It was announced yesterday (Monday) that early data on a Covid-19 vaccine, being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, suggests it is 90 per cent effective in preventing people from getting the virus.
The developers said it had been tested on 43,500 people, with no safety concerns raised.
It is a new type of vaccine called an RNA vaccine. There are no RNA vaccines that have been approved for use in people.
The concept has been researched before and people have been given them in clinical trials for other diseases.
The vaccine will be considered by regulatory agencies around the world, which will decide whether the jab can be approved for use.
But who will get it first and how soon can people have it?
Age appears to be the biggest risk factor for severe Covid-19 and in the UK, older care home residents and care home staff are top of the preliminary priority list. They are followed by health workers such as hospital staff.
People are then ranked by age, with people under 50 at the bottom of the list.
The first jabs may take place before Christmas if everything goes smoothly.
The vaccine will be delivered through care homes, GPs and pharmacists as well as “go-to” vaccination centres set up in venues such as sports halls.
However, there are huge logistical challenges to overcome – not least the need to store the vaccine at minus 80C, something beyond your local GP surgery.
