Covid vaccine latest: Who will be the first to get it and when will the vaccination be given out?
Following the approval of the Pfizer/ BioNTech coronavirus vaccine and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, here is everything you need to know about who will get the vaccine first and where people will be able to get the vaccine from.
Here's everything you need to know.
Who will get the vaccine first?
Chief executive of NHS England Sir Simon Stevens recently outlined the order of which members of society would get the vaccine first.
"The independent medical experts - the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation - have clearly recommended that the NHS should make sure the first people to be offered the vaccine are those at highest risk together with the people who look after them. In practice, what that means is starting with the over 80s who are at much higher risk of severe outcomes from coronavirus as well as people in care homes together with some of the frontline and social care staff who are looking after them.
"As more vaccines become available, we will be in the new year extending that to many more people across the country in line with the JCVI recommendations," he said.
The list is as follows:
1. Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
2. All those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
3. All those 75 years of age and over
4. All those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
5. All those 65 years of age and over
6. All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
7. All those 60 years of age and over
8. All those 55 years of age and over
9. All those 50 years of age and over
People will be required to receive two doses. The second dose will be given three to twelve weeks after having the first dose.
Those in the top four categories are due to get a vaccine by Monday 15 February 2021.
When will the vaccines be available?
The vaccinations have already been rolled out across the country with 90-year-old grandmother Margaret Keenan becoming the first person in the world to have the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccination on Friday 11 December.
Since then, the rollout of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has continued with 200 GP surgeries receiving the vaccine from Tuesday 15 December. The plan is then to roll the vaccine out to more than 1,000 surgeries.
Due to the nature of the vaccine, two jabs are required with a booster given to the patient 21 days after the initial jab, so the bulk of the vaccination programme will take place from January through to March or April for the at-risk population.
On Monday 4 January, the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was rolled out.
Due to the ability to store the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at room temperature, care home residents have started to receive the vaccine.
NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens has said there will be a “huge acceleration” in the vaccination programme over the coming weeks.
During a Downing Street press briefing on Thursday 7 January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that by the end of the week, the following will be vaccinating for Covid:• Over 1000 GP led sites• 223 hospital sites• Seven mass vaccination centres• 200 community pharmacies
"If all goes well, these together should have the capacity to deliver hundreds of thousands of vaccines per day by January 15 and it is our plan that everyone should have a vaccination available within a radius of 10 miles," Mr Johnson said during the press briefing.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has since confirmed the expansion of vaccination sites to include roving vaccination centres.
The NHS will be in contact about the vaccine.
Is the vaccine safe?
Professor Ugur Sahin, the man behind the Covid-19 vaccine, explained that although it had been developed at speed no corner have been cut on safety.
"It was indeed historically unprecedented short development in the world," he said.
"But this was accomplished not by cutting corners but by diligent work, using new technology, international collaboration, new models of dealing with scientific challenges and we did everything that is required to ensure a vaccine is safe and effective."