RE: Vaccine Hype14 Nov 2020 16:25
Matt Han**** on Question time, Thursday night, straight from the horses mouth:-
Q. Is the storage and transport of the vaccine in place. This is complicated because you need these super freezers to keep the vaccine at -70 degrees, Scotland has already purchased loads of these super freezers are you really going to be able to pull this off?
A. YES
Q. Oh you sound confident, I remember you saying that about PPE, it would all be sorted for that weekend and it was not
A. Look the UK is buying this vaccine and the others, so we have a portfolio and buying for the whole UK. Then the NHS in each country, England, Scotland, Wales, NI is responsible for the deployment. It is a challenge and incredibly difficult, transport and storage as mentioned but also the manufacture, which is the really hard part, these things are hard to manufacture.
Q. Yes but you are not responsible for that, but you are responsible for who can get it
A. Yes but its hard to do the science, hard to manufacture, its not a chemical made this is biological, then it arrives and you have to keep at -70, we have known this for a while so the NHS has been getting hold of the serious deep freeze, then you have to distribute it. It will be a huge effort on the NHS supported by the armed services. It will be complicated and a huge challenge, but I am sure the NHS is up to it
A (vaccine expert). We need to recognise the enormous excitement surrounding this vaccine, but there are a range of vaccines coming through which could have different advantages in deployment. Right now, we are working on this Pfizer being the main one that is going to work but we may have a different conversation in two or three weeks. But the main point here is that roughly 10 million of the UK population in what we class as the most vulnerable category and if we were to start vaccinating those in January, given that it takes five or six weeks to get immunity, if you did a million people a week we wouldn’t get that 10 million vaccinated until way into April and that’s only if everyone comes in for their first shot and then the second shot on time and you are not playing catch up. The logistical problem is immense, and people need to understand that.
A. I was asked can we do it and I said yes, we can. Is it going to be an enormous challenge, of course? It is the biggest civilian operation in history, but we can come together and make it happen.
Q. I am sorry Matt but its just a bit facile when you say things like yes, we can, as you have heard we still have issues getting out the flu vaccine. You blow £500 million on PPE that didn’t work, we know its been 9 months and 12 days since the first infection in York and yet as one of the sixth richest economies in the world still don’t have a successful track and trace system. So, its about public confidence. storage at -70 you can understand why people are nervous, so its more likely we will be well into next summer before this vaccine is properly
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