People who are obese will get coronavirus vaccines before millions of over-60s

People who are obese will get vaccinated against coronavirus before millions of people in their 60s, new guidelines are suggesting.

Official advice says 'at-risk' adults should be prioritised for any coronavirus vaccines, ahead of those under 65 who are not in this category, the Sun reports.

This group includes younger people who are morbidly obese and people with poorly-controlled diabetes.

The current draft priority list - subject to confirmation from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) will see care home residents and staff innoculated first in the following list of priority:

1. older adults’ resident in a care home and care home workers
2. all those 80 years of age and over and health and social care workers
3. all those 75 years of age and over
4. all those 70 years of age and over
5. all those 65 years of age and over
6. high-risk adults under 65 years of age
7. moderate-risk adults under 65 years of age
8. all those 60 years of age and over
9. all those 55 years of age and over
10. all those 50 years of age and over
11. rest of the population (priority to be determined)

The high risk adults in sixth place aged 18 to 65 are in a list of groups including:

• solid organ transplant recipients
• haematological cancers
• certain neurological conditions
• chronic kidney disease
• immunosuppression
• dementia
• stroke
• poorly controlled diabetes
• chronic pulmonary disease
• obesity (BMI greater than 40)
• malignancy
• liver disease

A lab worker developing a coronavirus vaccine at the Jenner Institute in Oxford (PA)

The JCVI said it is "mindful that work is ongoing to more clearly define those at greatest risk of morbidity and mortality from Covid-19 and so at this stage the list as to what conditions constitute a high-risk or moderate-risk group is not considered definitive.

"As more information and granular data become available, this list will be updated to better capture those most at risk of serious disease and death.

"Front line health and social care workers are also at increased personal risk of infection and of transmitting that infection to susceptible patients and vulnerable populations such as the elderly in care homes.

"Vaccination of these key workers will protect at-risk populations and help maintain resilience in the NHS and social care sector."

Officials are hopeful the Pfizer/BioNTech drug may be approved next week - despite it needing to be stored at -70C, which creates logistical challenges.

One senior hospital executive told the Guardian : “We’ve been told to expect the vaccine on 7 December and plan to start vaccinating our staff all that week.

"However, it’s the Pfizer vaccine we’re getting, so it can’t be moved again once it gets to us and we then have to use it within five days, as that’s its shelf life."