The UK branch of the UK National Health Service NHS has notified hospitals that as of December 7 they will have access to corona vaccines developed and manufactured by Pfizer / BioNTech. Hospitals have also been asked to prepare for the administration of the vaccines, writes The Guardian Friday.
The first doses may arrive on December 7. According to the NHS, vaccinations could then start a few days later. Medical personnel will then be the first to be considered for administration. People eighty years and older and residents of care institutions would then be next.
The British government had decided in September that residents and staff of care centers would be the first to receive a shot. “If the NHS staff is the first to act, we consider it treason,” said a spokesman on behalf of the health care managers.
Due to the nature of the vaccine, it is likely to deviate from this priority list. Experts believe that due to its composition, the Pfizer vaccine becomes unstable and loses effectiveness if it is transported too often.
When the vaccine reaches English hospitals, it has already been transported twice: first from the factory in Belgium to a distribution center in England and from there to the hospitals. “Then we have to process it within five days, otherwise the expiration date has passed,” said a hospital director. The Guardian.
The United States also expects to vaccinate the first Americans with a corona vaccine in the course of December. The plan is to have vaccines delivered to inoculation sites by the US drug service FDA within 24 hours of approval, said the immunologist who leads operation “Warp Speed.” He hopes that vaccinations can start “maybe on December 11 or 12”.
RIVM: Start vaccination ‘probably not’ before the end of the year
It is unlikely that the first Dutch people will be vaccinated against the corona virus before the end of this year. That said the program director for the corona vaccination of the RIVM, Jaap van Delden, last Wednesday.
“As it looks now, it is not likely, but it is also not impossible. We are doing everything we can, but we do not have enough information to say whether it will be successful this year. We cannot manage all the steps ourselves”, says Van Delden.
He says he does not have the impression that the Netherlands is lagging behind neighboring countries. A vaccine must first be admitted to the market, then the delivery must be released and finally the delivery itself follows. “All European countries will only use a vaccine if it has been registered,” said Van Delden.
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