* A simple age-based program, reduces mortality, JCVI says
* The Government says it will follow the recommendation of experts
* Police association: ‘obvious’ anger about advice (Details)
LONDON, 26 February (Reuters) – Police and teachers will not jump to the queue in the second phase of Britain’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, with people prioritized by age, government advisers said on Friday , that this described as the best way to maintain vaccine speed.
Britain’s vaccination program has been among the fastest in the world, meeting a government target to offer the first dose of vaccine to 15 million high-risk people by mid-February.
Some frontline staff such as the police and teachers had wanted priority based on their work, but said Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of COVID-19 for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Vaccination (JCVI), that such an approach could be rolled out. .
“The following will be a simple age-based program, and simplicity has been one of the cornerstones of the current program in terms of speed and success,” he told a news conference.
Britain aims to complete the first phase of vaccine distribution by mid-April.
Although the priority list for this level has been largely age-determined, with everyone over 50 receiving vaccination, priority has been given to health and care workers and people with disabilities. clinically vulnerable.
Announcing the priority list for level 2, Lim said everyone aged 40-49 would be the next line for the picture, then those aged 30-39, then those aged 18-29.
The JCVI said an age-based approach is the most effective way to reduce death and hospitalization from COVID-19, even in those under 50. Taking shots through the work would be logically complex and that could delay it, he said.
The government said it would follow the proposed approach, but not everyone welcomed the advice.
John Apter, chairman of the Police Federation of England & Wales, described it as “an infamous betrayal of police officers.”
“Their anger is obvious, this will not be forgotten.”
Reporting by Alistair Smout Edited by Michael Holden, Elizabeth Piper and Frances Kerry