More than 500,000 people who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 will be delayed for up to 12 weeks as the NHS reconsiders the release aimed at ending the death toll in the UK.
In a UK-wide policy change, the NHS will now prioritize providing as many people on the priority list as possible with the first dose of Oxford / Astra Zeneca vaccine. newly approved or the Pfizer / BioNTech injection, so that the maximum number of people protected from the disease is increased.
Recipients will still receive the two doses needed to provide full immunity, but now the second one will be delayed, in most cases coming 11 to 12 weeks after first.
Previously, those receiving the Pfizer injection had a second dose date three weeks later from their first dose. That gap was initially expected to be four weeks for the Oxford vaccine.
Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, unveiled the move in a letter to health service leaders in England on Wednesday, a day on which an additional 981 Covid deaths were announced.
Now that the UK has approved the first Covid vaccine, who will get it first?
The government’s Joint Committee on Immunization and Vaccination (JCVI) says its priority is to prevent Covid-related deaths and to protect workers and health and social care systems.
Elderly care home residents and their caregivers are first on the JCVI list because the risk of exposure to the virus is higher and because the risk of death is closely related to older age. They are followed by priority over anyone else over 80 and health and social care workers.
However, for pragmatic reasons the first group to receive the Pfizer / BioNTech injection appears to be NHS staff. This is because the vaccine must be stored at very cold temperatures, which can be more easily achieved by using hospital facilities.
Are there enough doses to reach all the priority groups?
Together, there are nearly 6 million people living in care homes, the carers and people over 80, and 736,685 frontline NHS workers. Health secretary Matt Hancock has said he expects 10m doses of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine to be available this year, so if this is the only authorized vaccine, everyone else would have to wait until other doses are available next year.
Where do I go for the vaccine?
Covid-19 vaccines are expected to be delivered in three types of locations: NHS trust “vaccination centers” at hospital sites; large vaccine centers, currently being set up at venues such as football pitches, conference premises and racecourses – these are expected to receive up to 5,000 people a day; and at GP surgeries and pharmacies. Doctors can also visit care home residents and inpatients who live at home without the need to travel.
How far apart are the two doses given, and do I defend after the first?
While there is little evidence to show high levels of short-term protection from a single dose of the vaccine, it is a two-dose schedule agreed with the MHRA.
The second dose must be delivered at least 21 days after the first, and both are injected into the deltoid muscle – the thick triangular muscle we use to lift each arm.
For the Pfizer vaccine, its efficacy level was measured seven days after the second sight. People are likely to have some protection before this, but this is how long it will take for full protection to begin. We will learn more about the level of protection and how long it lasts as data from ongoing clinical trials comes into play.
Can I pay to get the vaccine privately?
Unlikely. England’s deputy chief medical officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, has said he believes Covid-19 vaccines should be delivered according to clinical priority rather than allowing people to jump the queue if they can.
Can I choose which vaccine I have?
Also unlikely, at least in the short to medium term. Assuming more than one vaccine has been approved, the priority will be to distribute any available doses to those who need it as soon as possible.
Linda Geddes
It also revealed that the NHS hoped to vaccinate all 25 million people in its nine priority groups by the end of spring, the first time an NHS director or government minister has set a date for when vulnerable people will be able to have the vaccine.
Dr Julia Patterson, director of EveryDoctor, a network of local doctors, said: “This sudden change to the government’s plan will put a huge strain on NHS staff delivering vaccines, and will also be a cause for concern. for vulnerable people who received the first dose of the vaccine and are now unsure about when to get the second dose.
“The government should quickly recruit a large additional workforce to deliver the vaccines, for example by enlisting the army, and not just overburdening the military. NHS work. ”
The delayed move in second doses means that most of the hundreds of thousands of people in England who received their first injection, after using the Pfizer product that started in the UK on 8 December, wait until as long as March for a second.
Top medical officials of the four home countries have approved the policy change amid growing expectations that the daily death toll will exceed 1,000, given the explosion in diseases and hospitals in recent weeks.
There is also great concern that the NHS is recovering rapidly with the number of people who are now critically ill in hospital, particularly in the south of England. Buckinghamshire Essex continued on Wednesday to report a “major incident” in response to the Covid-19 emergency.
Explaining the rationale for the change, chief medical officers said in a statement, Stevens said in his letter: “By prioritizing the first doses of vaccine for as many people as possible on the list priority will protect the greatest number of people at risk overall. in the shortest possible time and will have the greatest impact on reducing mortality, serious disease and hospitals and in protecting the NHS and equal health services.
“Actively, this will mean that a second dose of both vaccines will be given near the end of the recommended 12-week dose schedule.”
In his letter Stevens makes it clear:
-
Anyone who is about to receive their second dose before another Monday can do so.
-
Recruitment dates for those with a second dose due after 4 January “should be rescheduled mainly for between three [weeks’](for the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine) and four [weeks’] (for the Astra Zeneca vaccine) and 12 weeks, and most recipients will be retained in the last week of that 12-week period ”.
-
Those about to receive the first injection from New Year’s Eve onwards should not receive the second dose until up to 12 weeks later. “Most recipients will be retained in the last week of that 12-week period. “
In a move that will warmly welcome NHS staff, Stevens also confirmed that the forthcoming Oxford vaccine – which will go live on Monday – means that staff vaccination can begin immediately.
Hospital and GP leaders, and frontline staff, have become increasingly vocal in recent weeks over concerns that they could leave NHS staff without a home. vaccinated the risk of both themselves and patients appearing at a time when the coronavirus is still rampant.