By Vaccine roll out to start in North East Lincolnshire this week
The roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine will begin in surgeries in North East Lincolnshire this week.
GP practices are currently inviting eligible patients for their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.
A spokesperson for NHS North East Lincolnshire CCG said: “A number of local practices are starting to invite and book eligible patients in for the first dose of their COVID vaccine prior to its arrival this week; those invited will be patients over the age of 80, in line with the JCVI recommendation.
“The NHS will let you know when it’s your turn to have the vaccine. It’s important not to contact the NHS for a vaccination before then.”
The names of the chosen surgeries has not been revealed, but many people will get called to a primary care centre that is not their own.
There will be enough of the vaccine to go around everyone who is eligible in the first phase.
This is the first vaccine to be declared safe and effective and approved for mass use by UK regulators.
It is made by Pfizer-BioNTech, which has manufacturing sites in Europe and the US. Initial vaccine doses for the UK are being produced at Pfizer’s site in Puurs, Belgium.
Because the vaccine is made using genetic material – a technique never before developed on this scale – it has strict temperature requirements and needs to be stored at a very cold -70C to prevent it from degrading. This means it needs to be transported in a carefully controlled deep-freeze delivery chain.
In addition to the Pfizer vaccine, two other jabs – developed by Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca – are expected to be approved for widespread use in the UK soon.
