The UK’s mission to vaccinate the public against coronavirus begins this week with the rollout of the first MHRA-approved Covid-19 jab.
It represents the start of the biggest immunisation programme in the UK’s history, NHS England said.
But which vaccine is being rolled out and who will get it first?
Here’s what you need to know.
Which vaccine is being rolled out — and when will vaccinations begin?
There are a number of Covid-19 vaccine trials going on around the world.
But it is the coronavirus vaccine created by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German company BioNTech that is set to be rolled out in the UK this week after the medicines regulator approved it for use last Wednesday.
The UK has procured 40m doses of the vaccine so far — enough to vaccinate 20m people, with each candidate needing two doses to be protected.
According to government ministers, there will be 800,000 doses in the first consignment of the vaccine.
The first doses of the vaccine will be administered on Tuesday.
How does the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine work?
The Pfizer/BioNTech – which was shown to have a 95% efficacy rate in trials— is a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.
Conventional vaccines are produced using weakened forms of the virus, but mRNAs use only the virus’s genetic code.
An mRNA vaccine is injected into the body where it enters cells and tells them to create antigens.
These antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.
Has the vaccine arrived in the UK yet?
The first shipment of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine arrived in the UK from Belgium on Thursday and was taken to an undisclosed central location to be stored.
The PA news agency reported that doses of the vaccine have started to arrive at vaccine hubs ahead of Wednesday — though it is not known exactly when all 50 hubs in England will receive a delivery.
Pictures show the arrival of a batch of vaccines at Croydon University Hospital in south London over the weekend, with similar scenes unfolding all around the country.
Where are the vaccine hubs in England?
In the first wave of vaccinations, there will be 50 “hub hospitals” in England that will administer the jabs.
Here’s the full list:
- Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- East Suffolk And North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
- James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Norfolk And Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
- Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
- Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
- St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
- Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals Coventry And Warwickshire NHS Trust
- Royal Stoke Hospital
- Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust
- University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
- United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital NHS Trust
- Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
- Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- South Tees NHS Trust
- Wirral University Teaching Hospital
- Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
- Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
- Blackpool Teaching Hospital
- Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust
- Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust – Wexham Park Hospital
- Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- East Kent Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – William Harvey Hospital
- Brighton And Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust – Royal Sussex County Hospital
- Portsmouth University Hospitals Trust
- Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust
- Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
- University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
- Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- North Bristol NHS Trust
How is the vaccine stored?
The vaccine needs to be stored at extremely low temperatures, somewhere between minus 70C and minus 80C.
Public Health England has secured 58 specialised Twin Guard ultra-low temperature freezers which provide sufficient storage for around 5m doses of potential Covid-19 vaccines which require ultra-low temperature storage
The freezers, which are not portable, each hold about 86,000 doses.
Who will get the jab first?
Care home residents and staff, people over 80 and frontline health and social care workers will be among those to get the vaccine first.
Here’s the full list:
- Older adults resident in a care home and care home workers
- All those 80 years of age and over. Front line health and social care workers
- All those 75 years of age and over
- All those 70 years of age and over
- All those 65 years of age and over
- All Individuals aged 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions.
- All those 60 years of age and over
- All those 55 years of age and over
- All those 50 years of age and over
- The rest of the population (priority to be determined)
Should everyone over 80 expect a call this week?
Though people over the age of 80 will be among the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine, it has been suggested by officials that those at the very front of the queue would likely be people already in hospital for outpatient appointments.
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said people should “hang fire” and be assured they have not been forgotten if they have not received a letter or a phone call about the jab.
He told the PA news agency on Sunday: “I don’t think people should expect anything over the next few days because the reality is, as I said, that for the vast, vast, vast majority of people this will be done in January, February, March.
“And the one thing that we don’t want people to get anxious about or concerned about is ‘Where’s my letter?’ in December.”
He added: “People really shouldn’t worry if they’re over 80 and they haven’t had a letter.”
Will the rollout of the jab lead to ‘vaccine passports’?
The government’s scientific advisors have suggested that “immunity certificates” could be issued to people after taking a coronavirus vaccine or getting the illness.
A paper published by a committee of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said certification was “likely to be possible” in a move that would exempt people from government-imposed restrictions to halt the spread of Covid-19.
Certificates or “immunity passports” have been latched on by governments across the world as a way to reopen society. However, UK ministers have aired mixed messages on whether they will be introduced.