The beginning of the vaccination rollout for Covid-19 could mark “a decisive turning point in the battle” against the virus, the chief executive of NHS England has said.
Vaccinations will be administered at dozens of hospital hubs from Tuesday – dubbed “V-Day” by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
People aged 80 and older, care home workers and NHS workers who are at higher risk are at the front of the queue for the jabs.
Speaking just hours before the vaccine rollout begins, Sir Simon Stevens said: “Tomorrow is the beginning of the biggest vaccination campaign in our history, building on successes from previous campaigns against conditions: diseases like polio, meningitis, and tuberculosis.
“Hospitals, and then GPs and pharmacists as more vaccine becomes available, are going to be vaccinating at least until next spring.
“So in the meantime, we’re going to have to continue to be very careful. But if we do that I think there’s every chance that we will look back on tomorrow as marking a decisive turning point in the battle against coronavirus.”
He said there is “every prospect” that by next spring the high-risk vulnerable groups, as identified by the medical experts, will all have been vaccinated.
Sir Simon said he is confident that vaccinations can begin to be offered in care homes “well before Christmas”.
But he cautioned that it will take “some weeks and months as vaccine supply becomes available for GPs and hospitals and pharmacists to reach all of the most vulnerable”.
Croydon University Hospital in south London was one of the first hospitals to take delivery of the vaccine over the weekend, with similar scenes unfolding around the country ahead of the rollout.
