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LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Britain is ready to roll out tens
of millions of COVID-19 vaccines to the public with care-home
residents and the elderly first in line for a jab that medics
hope will allow the world to return to some semblance of
normality.
News that a vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech was more than
90% effective raised hopes that there may soon be an end to the
lockdowns that have cast gloom across the world by shedding
millions of jobs and upending normal life.
England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam said
the country was ready to roll out a vaccine once regulators
approved it as safe, quipping that he had told his 78-year-old
mother to be ready for a jab.
"Do I think we will then move at pace to keep up with the
volumes that are supplied to us? Yes I absolutely do," Van-Tam
told reporters, adding that he would love to be at the front of
the queue for a vaccine but that high risk individuals should
come first.
Van-Tam added that the government would not use any vaccine
until the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
(MHRA) had approved it.
"There is absolutely no chance that we will compromise on
standards of safety or effectiveness," MHRA CEO June Raine said.
Asked if people should be able to jump the queue by buying a
vaccine, Van-Tam said that wealth should not be a determinant
for getting a vaccine.
"I think these vaccines, need to be prioritised to those who
need them, and not those who can afford to pay for them
privately," he said.
Britain has ordered a total of 350 million doses of the
vaccines in development, including 40 million shots of Pfizer's
jab. Trial data from a competing vaccine developed by Oxford
University and AstraZeneca is expected in the coming weeks.
"At the very top of our priority list is care home residents
and people who work in care homes," said Professor Wei Shen Lim,
a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation
which advises the government on immunisation.
Lim said that next in line would be those above 60 and then
adults with underlying health conditions.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Paul Sandle; editing by
Sarah Young)
