Coronavirus vaccine: Road to recovery starts right here
The first vaccinations were today expected to be given, starting our long road to recovery from coronavirus.
Batches of the Pfizer/BioTech vaccine have been stored at Walsall Manor Hospital and Royal Stoke University Hospital.
NHS workers from across the Black Country and Staffordshire were today starting to receive the jab, travelling to the hospitals by appointment.
It also emerged today that GP surgeries have also been told to be ready to start staffing GP-led Covid-19 vaccination centres by next Monday.
Tight security today surrounded the process of vaccination, with hospital trusts being instructed by the NHS not to release details of those receiving the vaccine first.
Hospital staff and patients aged 80 and above are expected to be first in line.
The hospitals have been chosen as central hubs because of their ability to store the vaccine at temperatures exceeding –70C.
Care homes are unlikely to receive vaccinations until next week at the earliest because of the logistical challenges of transporting the vaccine.
Care homes
Lola Abudu of Public Health England for the West Midlands, said the NHS was “looking into” ways the vaccine could be distributed safely out to care homes.
She said: “The vaccine has now arrived in the UK and is being distributed to various centres that will be involved. A number are going to hospitals.
"The logistics related to the Pfizer vaccine are quite difficult, particularly the need for refrigeration at very, very low temperatures.
“I don’t know the details of the arrangements that have been made to get it out to care homes.
“I really can’t comment on that but these matters are being looked into to see how it could be best distributed.
"I’m sure if it is possible to get that vaccine out to the care homes then the NHS will try to do this but they will start with healthcare workers in hospitals as the starting point while they work through that.”
While today marks a major milestone in the fight against coronavirus, the UK’s chief medical officers have warned the vaccine will only have a “marginal impact” on hospital numbers over the winter.
In a letter to colleagues, the four chief medical officers said this winter would be “especially hard” for the health service due to coronavirus.
The letter says GP-led vaccination centres will be the next stage of the process to roll out the vaccine, starting from next week.
The first to receive the vaccine in these centres will be those aged 80 and over, as long as other risk factors, “clinical or otherwise”, have been taken into account.
GPs will then be expected to administer jabs according to the priority list set down by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation as more stocks arrive.
