A coronavirus vaccination program in the UK could begin next month if a jab is approved by the medicines regulator, the Health Secretary said on Friday.
At a virtual Downing Street press conference, Matt Hancock revealed he had asked the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to assess the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which trials suggest is 95 per cent effective.
“If the regulator approves a vaccine we will be ready to start vaccination next month, with the bulk of the rollout in the new year,” he said.
It came amid hopes that Covid-19 cases are levelling off in England and Scotland, and decreasing in Northern Ireland and Wales, according to new Office for National Statistics figures.
Meanwhile, the R rate has dropped closer to the threshold of 1, at which point the outbreak can be more easily contained.
However, NHS hospital chief Chris Hopson has warned that even a minor relaxation of restrictions for Christmas riskes sparking an “uncontrollable flood” of cases in January, with England’s national shutdown set to expire on December 2.
