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Hospitals have been told to prepare for a coronavirus vaccine launch in less than 10 days, with NHS workers expected to be in the front row, the Guardian learned.
NHS chiefs said hospitals in England could expect to receive their first deliveries of a vaccine manufactured by Pfizer / BioNTech as soon as Monday 7 December, with regulatory approval expected within days.
According to sources from several hospitals across the country, NHS England said they should expect to get vaccine stocks on December 7, 8 or 9.
Initially only NHS personnel are expected to receive the hit, with nursing home residents and those over 80 having to wait. This is despite these two groups being classified by the government as top priorities for Covid immunization, as they have the greatest risk of dying from the disease. Health sector leaders reacted with anger, warning that the move would be seen as “betrayal”.
A guide issued in September by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), government advisers who decide which groups are prioritized, said nursing home seniors and their staff should be at the top of the list. People over 80 and everyone working in the health and social sectors were the second priority, he said. Public Health England reiterated the priority list in the guidelines for the NHS on Friday.
Covid levels
But the nature of the Pfizer vaccine seems to have forced a rethink who receives it first. Its composition means it should only be moved a limited number of times, experts believe, and as such it cannot be easily transported by healthcare personnel such as GPs into nursing homes and private residences for the elderly.
NHS officials believe that if it is moved more than four times it risks becoming unstable and ineffective. By the time it reaches UK hospitals, it will have been moved twice, from Pfizer’s manufacturing facility in Belgium to storage hubs in Britain and from these hubs to hospitals where it can be administered.
A senior hospital executive told the Guardian, “We were told to expect the vaccine on December 7th and we plan to start vaccinating our staff throughout the week. However, it is the Pfizer vaccine that we are receiving, so it cannot be moved again once it gets to us and we must therefore use it within five days, as this is its shelf life.
“The original plan was to do nursing homes first. But once the vaccine gets to us, it can’t be used in the community, so only NHS personnel will be able to get it, at least initially. “
NHS England’s expectation that the first supplies of Pfizer product will reach hospitals starting December 7 depends on timely approval by the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The regulator has been evaluating the vaccine for more than a week, by a formal request from Health Secretary Matt Hancock. However, there is a strong belief at the NHS summit that it will get the green light next week.
A director of another hospital said: “Officially it is assumed that the government will follow the advice of the JCVI. But in practice the NHS will vaccinate NHS personnel with the Pfizer vaccine, and quite quickly, due to its short duration. So NHS personnel will get it first. “
Over the past week, NHS trusts have been urging staff to urgently undergo winter flu vaccine before the end of November so they can have the Covid vaccine. The guide says there should be a gap of several weeks between them.
Nursing home residents and those over 80 seem increasingly likely to wait to be inoculated with the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, which the government said Friday it reported to the MHRA.
Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, it does not need to be frozen between -70 ° C and -80 ° C and can be stored in regular refrigerators and easily moved by family doctors, nurses and healthcare visitors who administer shots in places such as homes. care.
An NHS official said differences in the composition and potential availability of Pfizer and Oxford vaccines mean that the initial launch “may be stop-start,” with a gap of weeks or even months between frontline health workers and others. immunized priority groups.
Martin Green, managing director of Care England, which represents the UK’s largest nursing home providers, said the decision was “another case of them. [the government] make announcements without being able to fulfill them “.
“We had a commitment that nursing home residents would be first in line,” he said. “The reason is that they are more susceptible to death from the virus. This commitment must be honored. “
He said the vaccine could be sent directly to nursing homes, particularly nursing homes with qualified medical staff on site. “They knew this was the vaccine and they knew it required little movement, so why did they make the announcement that they were nursing home staff and residents before?”
Caroline Abrahams, the director of Age UK, said there was finally “some light at the end of the tunnel” and urged patience. “Although older people are most at risk if they contract Covid-19, the first vaccine that becomes available may not be what they are practically able to receive,” he said.
“As difficult as it is, we need to be patient as the complex logistics of launching these vaccines are worked out. Hopefully, a nationwide vaccination program will be launched by spring and life will feel much better and safer as a result. “
But Vic Rayner, executive director of the National Care Forum, which represents nonprofit healthcare workers, said, “In the spectrum of false promises, this will be ranked high because the vaccine has been linked to greater safety and greater freedom. The test the government has outlined … is that effectiveness is the only factor that could have an impact on prioritization. Going back would be a betrayal of the most vulnerable and those who support them. “
Senior NHS figures said they felt under significant political pressure from Boris Johnson’s government to start the vaccination program as soon as possible, not only to protect lives, but also to help boost public mood and create optimism after the sad nine months of the pandemic. . “We are nose-driven on this, due to the huge political imperative to start hitting people before Christmas,” said one executive.
Asked if there had been government pressure to accelerate the progress of the Oxford vaccine in particular, the prime minister’s spokesperson said: “No.” The MHRA stressed that while it is able to grant emergency clearance to one or more vaccines, its procedures will be as thorough and robust as usual.
The Department of Health and Social Care was contacted for comment.
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