Covid vaccine has arrived in the UK, says minister

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said “some” of the 800,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are in the UK, adding that he is “confident” that all of them will be available when the vaccination programme starts.

Asked if the batch of 800,000 doses are now in the UK, he told BBC Breakfast: “Well, some are in the UK, but as we said the programme will start next week, and I think I’m confident that we will have all of those available from the start of the programme.

“People should feel confident about this vaccine. The MHRA is regarded as the gold standard of regulators around the world by scientists.”

Mr Sharma said people should feel “entirely confident” that the vaccine is safe.

“If it wasn’t it wouldn’t have been approved and wouldn’t have got the clearance from the MHRA,” he said, adding the MHRA have been “absolutely meticulous” in the process.

Mr Sharma reiterated that the “bulk” of vaccine rollout would take place in 2021, with the Oxford/AstraZeneca version likely to considerably boost supply.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We will expect more (Pfizer vaccine) by the end of the year but what we have always said is that the bulk of the vaccination programme will take place next year.

“We’ve, of course, got the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that we’re talking about for deployment right now but AstraZeneca is also being reviewed by the MHRA.

“We’ll see what they pronounce and then, of course, we’ve got 100 million of those on order, and a lot of that is being manufactured – and the fill and finish – in the UK.”