Seven mass vaccine centres to open across England
Seven new mass vaccine centres will open across England as part of the government’s new vaccine delivery plan, the details of which will be released later today.
More than 1,000 vaccination sites have already been established across the UK, targeting first those most at risk from Covid-19.
Speaking on Sky News this morning minister for Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Nadhim Zahawi said by the middle of February some 15 million people should have been vaccinated under the government’s plans.
He also said the government wanted to avoid further toughening lockdown measures, following suggestions the current national lockdown rules to not go far enough to stop the spread of the virus.
Some 2 million people in the UK have already been vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccines. Last week the third vaccine, by Moderna, was approved by the health regulator.
The NHS will be offering a vaccination to everyone in the top four priority groups as set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation by 15 February. This means a vaccine will be ready for them, rather than that they have had the jab, and covers some 40 million people.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “From today, the full scale of our plans will be published, so the public can be assured of the time, effort and resources that have gone and will go into ensuring we protect the British people from the scourge of this virus.
“The U.K. vaccine delivery plan will be the keystone of our exit out of the pandemic, but we all must continue to play our part by staying at home, following the rules and keeping hands, face, space at the forefront of our minds when out and about.”