NHS staff are set to get a coronavirus vaccine within weeks as the Government prepares a mass roll-out before Christmas, according to reports.
An NHS Trust chief is said to have sent his staff an email which outlines how a national vaccination programme could start in “early December”.
According to the Mail on Sunday, Glen Burley, chief executive of George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust in Warwickshire, told staff that a “coronavirus vaccine should be available this year”.
He added that NHS staff are set to be “prioritised prior to Christmas”.
In his memo, he wrote: “Our Trust, alongside NHS organisations nationally, has been told to be prepared to start a Covid-19 staff vaccine programme in early December.
“The latest intelligence states a coronavirus vaccine should be available this year with NHS staff prioritised prior to Christmas.
‘VACCINE BEFORE XMAS’
“The vaccine is expected to be given in two doses, 28 days apart.”
Mr Burley urged staff to get their flu jab by the end of November in order to qualify for any coronavirus vaccine.
Oxford University and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca are developing the jab and the Government has already purchased 100million doses.
Plans suggest frontline NHS staff and care workers will receive the jab first, followed by people aged over 80.
David Eltringham, managing director at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, told the paper: “We don’t have a definite date for delivery of the vaccine, but we are making ready to deploy the vaccine from the beginning of December.”
Diane Wake, chief executive of the Dudley Group NHS Trust recently said she is “hoping” for a vaccine to be available in December.
She told a recent hospital board meeting: “It has not been confirmed yet but I’m hoping to be able to offer a Covid-19 vaccine to our staff.”
If the vaccine programme starts in December, it could pave the way for Boris Johnson to relax tough social restrictions enforced since March.
The paper also reports that the Government has introduced new laws which would allow Britain to bypass the EU approval process if a safe vaccine is ready before the post-Brexit transition period ends on December 31.
A senior Government source said: “We have made sure that if a vaccine is proven safe and effective we won’t be held back from deploying it by the need for approval from Brussels.”
TIER FOUR?
It comes as new “tier four” restrictions closing restaurants and non-essential shops could be introduced if the current rules do not tackle the second wave of coronavirus, according to reports.
The Government is said to be drawing up fresh plans to add an extra tier of Covid-19 restrictions in England if cases continue to rise.
A decision about the new restrictions could be made next month once ministers have analysed the effectiveness of the current three-tier system, according to inews.
Other options include a “tier three-plus” strategy and short-term local circuit breaker lockdowns in a bid to bring the R rate down below one.
Boris Johnson recently said a full lockdown was not an option because it would severely impact people’s mental health and the economy.
Saturday’s daily Covid figures showed the daily number of coronavirus deaths in Britain had fallen with 174 people dying – but cases had risen with 23,012 more infections.
New figures showed a total of 854,010 people have now tested positive for Covid-19 in the UK.
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