Covid-19: Doctors call for rapid rollout of vaccines

Doctors are calling for a significant ramping up of the vaccination programme following approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The first patients are expected to receive the jab on Monday.

But with just over 500,000 doses available to use next week experts are worried there may be a bottleneck in the system.

There are more than 25 million people in the nine priority groups identified so far.

This includes all those over 50 and younger adults with health conditions as well as frontline health and care staff.

The first Covid vaccines were given at the start of December after the vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech was approved for use.

So far nearly 800,000 people have received a first dose of that vaccine.

The hope was that when the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was approved it would lead to a significant increase in the rate of vaccination.

The jab is easier to store and distribute as it can be kept at normal fridge temperature, unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech one that has to be kept in ultra-cold storage.

There are thought to be over 5 million doses of the Oxford vaccine in the UK, but only just over 500,000 are ready for use.

That is because vaccines have to be put into vials and batched and certified.

Sources at the NHS expressed frustration at the situation. “The NHS is ready to go, but we can only go as quickly as supply allows.”

Queen Mary University epidemiologist Deepti Gurdasani said there appeared to be a “bottleneck” and the government looked like it was still going to be under its target of two million doses a week.

“We really need to speed up rollout,” she said.

There are currently more than 700 vaccination sites up-and-running with several hundred more thought to be ready to go once vaccines are available.

But the limited supply of the Pfizer vaccine, which has to be shipped in from Belgium, has meant some centres have not been able to vaccinate people every week.

Dame Clare Gerada, a former chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “We really now need a massive operational system. We need a 24/7 system with GPs, mass vaccination centres and hospitals – this needs to be scaled up.

“It’s got to be football stadia, all these large venues that we’ve got currently lying dormant.

“If we can really get a mass operational system up-and-running, then I can’t see why we can’t be getting the whole population immunised by the spring.”

NHS England medical director for primary care Dr Nikki Kanani promised there would be a significant expansion of the vaccination programme in the coming weeks.

She predicted the majority of care home residents would be protected by the end of January and frontline staff would start to get a vaccination in large numbers.

She also praised the progress made so far, thanking the “tireless efforts of staff”.