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- England will start administering COVID-19 vaccines from December 8.
- The National Health Service (NHS) said in an official statement that the first people to get vaccinated will be people over 80, home workers and NHS workers who are at “higher risk”.
- The first batch of vaccinations will be carried out in hospitals across the country, with general surgeries starting to administer injections from the week of December 14.
- As more doses of the vaccine become available, the NHS plans to set up mass injection centers at sports venues and conference rooms.
- Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This coming week will be a historic moment as we begin vaccination against COVID-19.”
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
England’s National Health Service (NHS) has released details of its official Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine rollout, which will begin early next week.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This coming week will be a historic moment as we begin vaccination against COVID-19.
“We prioritize the most vulnerable and those over 80, nursing home staff and NHS colleagues will all be among the first to receive vaccines.”
The UK became the first country to authorize the Pfizer vaccine and BioNTech, which Pfizer says is 95% effective.
The NHS said vaccinations would start on Tuesday and the first “wave” of injections would be carried out at 50 hospitals.
“People aged 80 and over as well as home care workers will be the first to receive the vaccine, as well as NHS workers who are at greater risk,” the NHS said in a statement.
The NHS said patients aged 80 or older who are already hospitalized on an outpatient basis or who are discharged home after a hospital stay would be among the first to receive the vaccine. Hospitals will also begin to invite those over 80 to come in for a drink and talk to health care providers about getting their staff vaccinated.
“Any unused appointments for these groups will be used for healthcare workers who are most at risk of serious illness from COVID,” the NHS said.
Patients will need to return for a booster 21 days after the initial injection, the NHS said.
“Despite the enormous complexities, hospitals will launch the first phase of the largest vaccination campaign in our country’s history from Tuesday. The first tranche of vaccine deliveries will arrive in hospitals by Monday in readiness NHS National Medical Director Stephen Powis said in a statement.
“The NHS has a solid reputation for implementing large-scale immunization programs – flu vaccine, HPV vaccine and life-saving MMR vaccines – hardworking staff will once again rise to the challenge of protecting the people most vulnerable to this terrible disease, ”he added.
The NHS said the following week – starting December 14 – a small number of general surgeries would start administering the vaccine. Ultimately, the vaccine rollout will include large-scale vaccination centers at sports venues and conference rooms, according to the NHS press release.
Pfizer told the BBC on Wednesday (December 2nd) that the UK will receive 800,000 doses of the vaccine next week, which means the first wave of two-dose vaccinations will be enough for around 400,000 people.
In total, the UK has ordered around 40 million doses, meaning it will have enough to vaccinate 20 million out of its population of 66.7 million.
The UK has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, recording more than 60,000 total deaths on Friday. Counting all the deaths for which the coronavirus is mentioned on the death certificate, the UK has passed 75,000.
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