- The UK needs to vaccinate 2 million people a week to hit its target of 14 million by Feb 15.
- Wednesday set a new record for COVID-19 deaths, with 1,564 victims.
- There is debate over plans to delay the second vaccine jab in order to reach more people.
COVID-19 vaccinations centres will open for 24 hours a day in a trial which could be extended across the UK, reports the Guardian.
24-hour Vaccination programme
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi told that 24-hour vaccine programmes are set to launch in London by the end of this month.
Currently, vaccination centres operate between the hours of 8am and 8pm, which Mr Zahawi said is more convenient for the older age groups who are prioritised for the first wave of jabs.
Mr Zahawi said: “We are going to pilot the 24-hour vaccination, the NHS is going to pilot that in hospitals in London and we will look at how we expand that.”
5 million up for vaccine jab
Pressed for when the pilots will start, he said: “By the end of January, absolutely.” He said 8am-8pm vaccination “works much more conveniently for those who are over 80 and then as you move down the age groups it becomes much more convenient for people to go late at night and in the early hours.”
He backed the target to offer a first jab to everyone by September as “achievable” and said that over-70s are currently being offered first jabs in areas only where “the majority” of over-80s have had their first shot.
Expanding the vaccination programme means that an additional five million people will now be eligible for a COVID-19 jab, Professor Stephen Powis said.
Vaccine roll out remains challenging
In a separate interview with the BBC on Monday, Zahawi said that vaccine supply “remains challenging” and is the limiting factor in the rollout of coronavirus shots, but was confident of meeting the government’s mid February target for those in the top four risk groups.
His comments came after it emerged over the weekend that the U.K. faces short-term delays in delivery of the Pfizer–BioNTech shot while the U.S. drug company upgrades its production capacity.
“We will be back to the original schedule of deliveries to the European Union beginning the week of January 25, with increased delivery beginning the week of February 15 resulting in our ability to deliver the fully committed quantity of vaccine doses in the first quarter and significantly more in the second quarter,” said Pfizer and BioNTech in a statement.
Valneva vaccine to be commercialized soon!
Meanwhile, the chief executive of Valneva VLA, said that the French pharmaceutical company was “days away” from starting commercial manufacturing of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine at a plant in Scotland.
In September, Valneva 0OB3, said that its vaccine candidate would be available for use in the U.K. in the second half of 2021. The U.K. has ordered 60 million doses of Valneva’s experimental shot, compared with 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca–Oxford vaccine.
A further 671 coronavirus deaths were reported in the U.K. on Sunday, but the number of new cases has fallen by almost a third since last week, suggesting that the latest lockdown measures are working.
In a further attempt to protect against the spread of new coronavirus variants, such as those identified in Brazil and South Africa, from Monday, all international arrivals into the U.K, must self-isolate for 10 days, or show proof of a negative coronavirus test taken at least five days after they enter the country.
Trade body Airlines U.K. said it supported the latest restrictions “on the assumption that we will work with Government — when the time is right — to remover these restrictions when it is safe to do so.”
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Source: The Guardian
