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Urgent preparations are underway across the UK for the launch of the Covid vaccine, following the major news on Monday that the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine has been shown to be 90% effective. Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy medical director, said the country and the NHS are preparing for the “most important vaccination program we have had in decades”. But that has raised questions about which organizations inside and outside the government will do what to speed up delivery.
Q: Who is responsible for launching the Covid vaccine?
A: Politically, the government is responsible. But operationally, in England, the NHS is tasked with providing an unprecedented logistical challenge: immunizing the country against the coronavirus.
A Whitehall official explains: “Ultimately, the government is responsible for launching the vaccine. It is a program of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). We conduct the policy and the NHS guides the operational delivery of that plan. So it’s an NHS vaccination schedule – it will be delivered by the NHS. But who is responsible for it? In the end, the ministers are responsible “.
So if things go wrong during the launch – for example, if parts of the country do not receive sufficient doses of the vaccine – then ministers will be held accountable to parliament, just as they have been for the many bankruptcies of £ 12 billion. government and tracking program
However, neither DHSC nor NHS England have formally announced that this is the division of responsibilities involved in the launch.
It is not yet known how the vaccine will take place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, although the NHS is likely to play the main role as well. The 40 million doses of Pfizer vaccine are for the whole of the UK and the DHSC has spoken to devolved administrations, but nothing has been decided yet.
Q: When will we have full details on how the implementation will work?
A: NHS England is finalizing the details of its “deployment plan” and DHSC for England. This could emerge as soon as next week, but it is clear that delays have occurred, so the publication could slip until later in November.
The plan is likely to outline the different but overlapping roles to be played by community-based vaccination sites, run by GPs, who will administer 200-500 jabs per day; mass vaccination sites, where 2,000-5,000 people will be immunized per day; and the third planned vaccine delivery model, namely pop-up sites and health workers in vehicles, which will take the vaccine to places like nursing homes and prisons.
However, a source familiar with the plan said it is unlikely to specify how many people each of these methods should vaccinate each day. “The government is not using targets for this, given what happened with all the different targets [around coronavirus testing and PPE delivery] around the Covid pandemic this year, “the source said.
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Who in the UK will receive the new Covid-19 vaccine first?
The UK Government’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization has published a list of groups of people who will be prioritized to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. The list is:
1. All those 80 years and over and the health and social workers.
2. All those 75 years of age and over.
3. All those 70 years and beyond.
4. All those 65 years of age and over.
5. Adults under 65 years of age at high risk of serious illness and mortality from Covid-19.
6. Adults under 65 years of age at moderate risk of serious disease and mortality from Covid-19.
7. All those 60 years of age and beyond.
8. All those 55 years of age and over.
9. All those 50 years of age and beyond.
10. Rest of the population
Q: Is the NHS the right organization to do this?
A: Yes, for several reasons. Doctor’s surgeries, health centers, and hospitals already provide vaccinations, like the MMR and six-in-one jabs that most children have. The NHS is the only organization with the necessary staff, skills and facilities given the scale of the task, although the service, especially in England, is understaffed. And finally, the public generally trusts the NHS in a way they’re unlikely to trust any private company that ends up getting vaccinated. The poor performance of Serco and Sitel in providing test and trace is important in ministerial thinking.
Q: What parts of the NHS will be involved?
A: Almost everyone, in one way or another. The task at hand – to hit tens of millions of people twice, several weeks apart, as soon as possible – is so huge that all types of NHS personnel will be involved. NHS England calls this their “all within reach” approach. Paramedics, podiatrists, physiotherapists and many others will be involved, not just doctors and nurses. They will come from doctor’s offices, hospitals and community-based health services. Hospitals will lose some of their staff, potentially for months, when they are seconded for the vaccination campaign.
Hospital heads privately admit that this is not ideal and that their services may be compromised at a time when they will still face winter pressures and the second wave of Covid-19. But they say the task of vaccinating the population is so urgent and vital that the temporary interruption of normal care is justified in the long run.
Q: Will GPs play a key role?
A: Yes, especially in the beginning, when the first task will be to vaccinate the ten different groups considered the highest priority. They include nursing home residents, NHS and social care personnel, 80+, and the 2.2 million people on the “shielding” list because they have serious underlying health conditions.
In England, 1,260 primary care networks – primary care groups – must quickly identify at least one site in their area that will be open for vaccinations between 8am and 8pm seven days a week, including public holidays , and deliver a minimum of 975 rounds per week.
However, many other health professionals – and even nursing and medical students – will be involved, especially once mass vaccination sites start to open.
The army will also be involved. They will help with setting up pop-up sites and also transporting and delivering supplies across the UK of whatever vaccine is available.
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