The pace of the vaccine rollout is likely to slow down rather than speeding up in the coming weeks, Government officials fear, as the logistical difficulties of reaching the remaining population become more complex.
The head of the NHS said that all English adults should be able to book their first dose by the end of this week, as the health service uses the four-week delay to the lockdown roadmap to “finish the job” of the rollout.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set the target of offering a first dose to all over-18s, and getting second doses to two thirds of adults, by 19 July – the new date for the final removal of all remaining Covid-19 rules.
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Whitehall insiders are confident they will reach this goal, which does not require the current rate of vaccinations to accelerate, but believe that the existing pace of around 400,000 doses a day in England may not be sustained over the next five weeks.
One problem is a squeeze on supplies of the Pfizer vaccine, which one health official said would do the “heavy lifting” in vaccinating younger groups because they are advised against taking the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab and Moderna supplies are very low.
Another is that second doses can only be given to people who had their first jab eight to 12 weeks ago, providing an upper limit to the number which can be administered each day.
There are currently no plans to revise the advice on Oxford/AstraZeneca for younger groups or to reduce the gap between doses to less than eight weeks, although either move would help speed the rollout.
A No 10 spokesman said: “What we’ll see is what we have seen throughout that supply fluctuates week from week and day from day. We have a robust supply of vaccinations that allows us to proceed at pace.”
Sir Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, told a press conference on Tuesday: “It is now very important that we use the next four weeks to finish the job to the greatest extent possible for the Covid vaccination programme.”
He added: “I expect that by the end of this week, we’ll be able to open up the national booking service to all adults aged 18 and above.”
He warned that supply remained a brake on the speed of the rollout, saying: “Of course, vaccine supply continues to be constrained, so we’re pacing ourselves at precisely the rate of which we’re getting that extra vaccine supply between now and 19 July.”
Wales and Northern Ireland have been offering vaccines to all adults for several weeks. Scotland is will invite all over-18s to book their first dose by the end of next week, according to Nicola Sturgeon.
On Tuesday the UK passed the landmark of giving a second vaccine dose to more than 30 million people, meaning that 57 per cent of adults are fully protected against Covid-19. The second dose appears to be particularly important in defending against the Indian (Delta) variant.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMilQFodHRwczovL2luZXdzLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvcG9saXRpY3MvY292aWQtMTktdmFjY2luZS1yb2xsb3V0LWxpa2VseS10by1zbG93LWRvd24tYmVmb3JlLTE5LWp1bHktdGhhbmtzLXRvLXRyaWNreS1tZWFzdXJlcy1uZWVkZWQtdG8tY29tcGxldGUtaXQtMTA1NDQzNtIBmQFodHRwczovL2luZXdzLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvcG9saXRpY3MvY292aWQtMTktdmFjY2luZS1yb2xsb3V0LWxpa2VseS10by1zbG93LWRvd24tYmVmb3JlLTE5LWp1bHktdGhhbmtzLXRvLXRyaWNreS1tZWFzdXJlcy1uZWVkZWQtdG8tY29tcGxldGUtaXQtMTA1NDQzNi9hbXA?oc=5
2021-06-15 20:44:00Z
CBMilQFodHRwczovL2luZXdzLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvcG9saXRpY3MvY292aWQtMTktdmFjY2luZS1yb2xsb3V0LWxpa2VseS10by1zbG93LWRvd24tYmVmb3JlLTE5LWp1bHktdGhhbmtzLXRvLXRyaWNreS1tZWFzdXJlcy1uZWVkZWQtdG8tY29tcGxldGUtaXQtMTA1NDQzNtIBmQFodHRwczovL2luZXdzLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvcG9saXRpY3MvY292aWQtMTktdmFjY2luZS1yb2xsb3V0LWxpa2VseS10by1zbG93LWRvd24tYmVmb3JlLTE5LWp1bHktdGhhbmtzLXRvLXRyaWNreS1tZWFzdXJlcy1uZWVkZWQtdG8tY29tcGxldGUtaXQtMTA1NDQzNi9hbXA
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