Margaret Keenan, at the age of 90, made history on Tuesday by becoming the first person to be given the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine, the first of 800,000 doses being dispensed in the coming weeks, with up to 4 million more expected to arrive in the UK by the end of December. There are now some 70 hospital hubs set up to administer the jabs and they will be complemented soon by thousands of GP surgeries as stock becomes available. Eventually, sports stadiums and conference centres will also act as hubs.
Front line health staff, care home staff and older adults in care homes and people aged over 80 in hospital have been the first to get the jab. They are at the top of a list of nine high-priority groups, cascading down eventually to 50-year-olds, with the longer-term aim being to vaccinate as many people as possible over the age of 16 making a total of more than 50 million people, all of whom will need two jabs 21 days apart.
In further encouraging news, it was announced on Tuesday that researchers have confirmed that the Oxford/AstraZenica vaccine is safe and effective. Regulators will now study the data to consider the vaccine for emergency use.
As mentioned in last week’s Newsletter, no action is necessary to arrange a vaccination as everyone eligible will be contacted by the NHS when their turn comes. Please remember that the Covid jab is free of charge so if you receive a phone call or e-mail asking you for money to arrange for your jab you will know it is a scam!
The government have published a guide for older adults providing greater details of the Covid-19 vaccination and this can be accessed here: –
COVID-19 vaccination: guide for older adults – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)