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LONDON – Residents of aged care homes and their carers will be the first people in the UK to receive the recently approved Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, the government said Wednesday.
Wei Shen Lim, chair of the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, said the vaccine launch would prioritize those most likely to die from COVID-19, as well as protect health services. and social assistance.
The first phase of the UK’s vaccination program will work across nine groups, starting with residents in aged care homes and their carers. Subsequently, all over 80s and other front-line health and care workers will be offered the shot.
The over 75s are in the third priority level, followed by the over 70s and extremely vulnerable young adults from a clinical point of view.
The fifth tier will extend to over 65s, before a sixth tier will see all those aged 16-64 with underlying health conditions that put them at greater risk of serious COVID-19 disease to offer the vaccine. The last three levels drop across age groups until everyone aged 50 and over has been offered the vaccine. Lim said the details of the second phase of the implementation will be decided later and will be informed by the lessons of the first phase.
It will be up to the local NHS and council authorities to manage the implementation of the program, which is expected to start next week. Vaccinations will take place in hospitals, mass vaccination centers and in the community, supported by family doctors and pharmacists. Speaking at a Downing Street briefing, Lim said “operational constraints” could mean “some flexibility” in implementing the priority list would be needed.
Although the vaccine must be stored at -70 ° C, it can be stored for five days at 2 ° C to 8 ° C, which would make it easier to transport to vaccination sites, said Munir Pirmohamed, president of the Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicine which, together with that of the UK Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) evaluated the Pfizer / BioNTech jab.
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC Wednesday that the UK will receive 800,000 doses in the first wave of the program, with the potential for more than that number to be delivered by the end of this year. Those who receive the vaccine must have two doses, 21 days apart.
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