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Summary
- Pfizer/BioNTech SE vaccine is being rolled out to General Practitioners today, a week after the first dose was administered
- Most patients can receive vaccination services from today afternoon in clinics run by family doctors
England started with its second round of vaccination rollout today by delivering the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech SE vaccine to general practitioners in more than 100 locations. Last week, thousands of people received the recently approved jab in hospitals.
Residents of care homes in Scotland will get the vaccine for the first time today. The inoculation centers will be operating from the community hubs or the existing doctors' surgeries.
(Image Source: ©Kalkine Group 2020)
Most of the GPs will commence with their inoculation program to their local community from tomorrow, NHS officials said.
NHS staff, along with its nurses and pharmacists, will work in line with GPs to inoculate the first group in the vaccination roaster. Like the first week, GP will give priority to over-80s and then other age groups. The doctors will receive vaccine batches with 975 doses.
A warning has been issued to people that socialising in the festive season would lead to a sudden surge in infection rate, thereby, disrupting the vaccine rollout.
Vaccine rollout
The Covid-19 vaccine, jointly developed by the US pharma major Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, was rolled out in Britain on 8 December, making it the first western country to approve a vaccine for mass use. Many hospital hubs have started offering vaccinations from last week with thousands of people receiving the jab.
The government and public health officials are closely regulating the inoculation programme. Various community centres have also been opened up for the job.
Britain was granted the emergency use authorization for the vaccine in November, after the companies had revealed that their potential Covid-19 vaccine had proven 95 per cent effective during its Phase 3 trial results.
Interesting Read: Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine receives a go-ahead sign from FDA Expert Panel
What is AstraZeneca doing?
At present, the only vaccine that has received approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for use is Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine. But people are hopeful that AstraZeneca and University of Oxford's candidate AZD1222 would soon get a go-ahead by the end of this year (WHICH YEAR), said Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher of vaccinology at the university. AstraZeneca PLC’s (LON: AZN) trial data is still under the MHRA’s review.
Also Read: AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) Vaccine Model Yet to Clear the Doubts of US Regulator
Current restrictions in place
The UK will witness a relaxation in restrictions between December 23 and 27, keeping in mind the festive season. A maximum of three households will be allowed to gather in a Christmas bubble. However, NHS doctors and experts have already warned the government that relaxation of restrictions might just lead to a third wave of coronavirus.
The UK recorded 18,447 positive coronavirus cases on 13 December, along with 144 deaths. In the last 7 days, the number of positive cases were around 126,163, while 2,941 deaths were recorded.
