The first boxes of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine left the Puurs plant in Belgium on Friday, December 4, in unmarked semi-trailers, then discreetly borrowed the Channel Tunnel. Once on British soil, this first delivery of 800,000 doses was stored in a top secret warehouse, carefully stored at – 70 ° C before being distributed in batches of 975 doses in over fifty British hospitals selected for organize the first coronavirus vaccine campaign in the western world.
This campaign begins Tuesday, December 8, at 7 a.m. in England, and British officials were keen to celebrate on this occasion ” The beginning of the end ” pandemic, according to Stephen Powis, the medical director of NHS England (England’s public health service). But also a real “V-Day” according to Matt Hancock (in a transparent reference to VE Day, which commemorates the end of the Second World War in Europe on May 8, 1945): the Minister of Health has multiplied triumphant statements in recent days, extolling “Advance” from the United Kingdom, whose drug agency MHRA was the first to give the green light to a vaccine against Covid-19 on December 2.
The first injections will be administered to people over 80 years old, summoned to hospital for the occasion, or already hospitalized and about to leave the establishment. If an appointment is not honored, a health professional (hospital or retirement home staff) will receive the injection. The ITV channel focused on Monday, December 7 on the case of Hari and Ranjan Shukla, an octogenarian couple residing in Newcastle (northern England) saying they are “Very, very happy” to be on the list for the next day.
7,000 Londoners could be vaccinated this week
The campaign is set to start modestly: 7,000 Londoners could be vaccinated this week, according to the Evening Standard, in seven different hospitals in the capital. Two injections 21 days apart being necessary for the vaccine to be effective, a maximum of 400,000 people will be affected across the UK, pending the next delivery of Pfizer – the government hopes “A few million” additional doses by the end of 2020.
Since 6.7 million Britons are considered “High priority” (over 80s, nursing home and hospital staff, people with serious pathologies), “The majority of people at risk will be vaccinated between January and February next”, a Downing Street spokesperson admitted on Monday. “This vaccination campaign is a marathon, not a sprint”, Stephen Powis of the NHS warned. The people inoculated will receive a vaccine “card” on which will be written, for the record, the name of the vaccine and the date of inoculation of the two doses. “It is absolutely not about passports”, Downing Street said Monday, cutting off speculation.
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