Coronavirus update: new mass vaccination sites open in England

Summary

• Ambulances under ‘unprecedented pressure’, says the College of Paramedics’ chief executive
• More GP sites and pharmacy centers to be used for vaccination this week, taking the total number of mass inoculation sites to nearly 1200

With the government asking people to follow the lockdown rules, seven new vaccination centers are opening up in England from today. Collectively these sites will be able to inoculate four people per minute. At the same time, with a record high number of coronavirus patients admitted in the hospitals, the government is trying all it can to make people stay at home. Tracy Nicholls, chief executive, College of Paramedics informed that the ambulance services were under a lot of pressure.

The new mass inoculation sites are located at Birmingham, Bristol, London, Stevenage, Surrey, and Newcastle Manchester. Healthcare staff and people aged 80 plus shall be the first to be invited.

By the end of this week, hundreds of doctors’ GP sites and many pharmacy-led centers would have joined these sites hiking up the total number of Covid-19 vaccination centers to 1200 across England, informed the National Health Service (NHS).

This widespread exercise will help government reach its goal of vaccinating 2 million Britons every week. The UK government aims to inoculate 15 million people in the top priority groups by the mid of February.

According to sources, Matt Hancock, the UK health secretary will soon be rolling out the government’s complete Covid-19 vaccine delivery plan at a press conference. His proposals are expected to be the key to the ‘nation’s exit out of the pandemic’. At the same time, the government would also be publishing its first daily figures that will showcase how many people have been given the shot. 

Hancock has informed that a total of two million people had been vaccinated by January 10 by administering close to 0.2 shots on a daily basis.

(Image source: ©Kalkine Group 2020)

Are tighter rules on cards?

It has been reported that government ministers held two meetings yesterday to discuss how to enforce the ongoing restrictions more strictly.

According to media reports, government is considering tightening the lockdown even further in England. It might ban people to exercise with anyone not from the same household. Reports state that people are misusing the physical exercise rules to go out for a cup of coffee with friends. However, the health secretary has declined to comment on the speculation.

But he did insist on people staying at home, adding that any flexibility could turn out to be fatal. The current set of rules should not be pushed and be treated as a limit to what one should do, said Hancock.

In Surrey the hospital mortuaries have reached their capacity. So, a new temporary mortuary has been opened up. The place has one of the highest coronavirus cases in the nation.

According to the lockdown rules in England, people must stay at home except for limited reason such as shopping for essentials, work that is not possible from home, or exercising. Similar rules are in place across Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland as well.