LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – The UK is preparing to become the first country this week to administer the Pfizer / BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to the population, in a vaccination campaign that will begin in hospitals and continue in clinics medical, the government said Sunday.
The first doses will be administered on Tuesday, with the National Health Service (NHS) giving top priority to those over 80, health workers and staff at asylum centers.
The British government last week approved emergency use for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, thus spearheading the global race for the most crucial mass inoculation program in history.
The UK has requested a total of 40 million doses. As each person requires two doses, 20 million citizens – of the total 67 million – will have access to the antidote.
Around 800,000 doses are expected to be available in the first week.
The initial doses that have arrived from Belgium are being stored in special centers distributed throughout the country, where their quality will be checked, the Ministry of Health said.
The deployment coincides with a crucial and dangerous moment in the negotiations between London and the European Union on the post-Brexit trade deal. The transition period ends on December 31 and the absence of an agreement would lead to significant disturbances in the movement of goods between the UK and EU countries.
In that sense, The Observer newspaper reported on Sunday that, according to the Government’s contingency plans, millions of doses could be sent to the United Kingdom by military aircraft to avoid possible delays caused by Brexit.
Asked whether she was concerned that a no-deal Brexit could disrupt the arrival of vaccines, June Raine, head of the British drug regulatory body, said: “We have practiced, we are fully prepared for any possible outcome.”
VACCINE FOR THE QUEEN
England’s National Health Service has asked the country’s GPs to prepare to start administering vaccines through local health centers from 14 December.
Groups of doctors are expected to operate more than 1,000 vaccination centers across the country, the government said.
In addition, the Sunday newspapers Times and Mail reported that Queen Elizabeth, 94, and her husband, Prince Philip, 99, will make it known when the vaccine has been administered.
British society admires the queen and her public endorsement of the vaccine would be a powerful message to counter the misinformation circulating on the Internet.
Information from Alistair Smout and Estelle Shirbon; edited by Helen Popper; translation by Jorge Martínez
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