UK National Health Service prepares for mass vaccination (feature)
London:
A vaccine for the coronavirus, jointly developed by scientists at the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, could be cleared by health regulators by the end of this year, according to a British media report .
The vaccine candidate is the most advanced in the testing process, according to a Times report citing UK government sources. “We are looking at getting closer to six months and it will probably be much shorter than that,” one of those sources said.
Under a protocol developed by the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, any approved vaccine will then be given to anyone over the age of 65, followed by younger adults at higher risk. These can include people from ethnic minorities as well as people with serious health problems. People over 50 will be next, with younger adults at the back of the line.
The government has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine once it is ready for deployment, and in order to save time, the doses are being manufactured before it has even been proven.
According to the media report, scientists participating in the trial hope that at the very least, it will prevent 50% of infections, which is considered the threshold for success.
If approved, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is ready to start mass vaccination immediately.
However, some members of the government are more cautious about the timelines. A Royal Society report this week, co-authored by an Indian-born scientist, warned of the enormous task involved in producing and distributing a vaccine.
“Even when the vaccine is available, it doesn’t mean that in a month everyone will be vaccinated. We’re talking six to nine months to a year after a vaccine is approved,” Prof. Nilay Shah said, chief of chemical engineering at Imperial Oil. College of London.
The Department of Health, however, sought to downplay the Royal Society’s findings. “This study does not reflect the enormous amount of planning and preparation that has taken place across government to rapidly deploy a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine,” a department spokesperson said.
