UK prepares 'delivery plan' for the biggest vaccination drive in British history

THE UK has already opened more than 1,000 vaccination sites across the country for the biggest vaccination programme in British history.

Health secretary Matt Hancock will set out the UK's Covid-19 Vaccines Delivery Plan on Monday(11) which will lay out the strategies behind the development, manufacturing and deployment of the vaccines, an official statement said.

Hancock will visit one of the seven new regional vaccination centres to see first-hand an element of the plan in action.

Around two million people in the UK have now been vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccines since the vaccination programme began. Last week, the MHRA also approved a third vaccine by Moderna.

“Since the historic day the first vaccine was approved, the NHS has made fantastic strides in offering the vaccine to as many at risk people as possible and at record pace. We have worked closely with experts across the NHS, local governments and the armed forces to put in place full and thorough preparations for this rollout – this is the biggest vaccination programme in British history," said Hancock.

“From today, the full scale of our plans will be published, so the public can be assured of the time, effort and resources that have gone and will go into ensuring we protect the British people from the scourge of this virus. The UK vaccine delivery plan will be the keystone of our exit out of the pandemic, but we all must continue to play our part by staying at home, following the rules and keeping hands, face, space at the forefront of our minds when out and about.”

The NHS will be offering a vaccination to everyone in the top four priority groups as set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation by 15 February.

“Our plan of action will set out our ambitions for the coming weeks and months as we continue to expand our programme at breakneck speed, with strategies to underpin every commitment," said minister for Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Nadhim Zahawi.

“It’s been phenomenal to see our extensive preparations come to fruition and from tomorrow the public will also be able to see exactly how we will ensure they and their loved ones get the vaccine as quickly as possible.”

Deaths from the virus have now exceeded 81,000 in the UK with more than 3 million people testing positive, and a new variant of the disease is surging through the population, with one in 20 people in parts of London now infected.

"The next few weeks are going to be the worst weeks of this pandemic in terms of numbers into the NHS (National Health Service)," Chris Whitty, the British government's chief medical adviser said.

More than 81,400 people in the UK have died within 28 days of receiving a positive Covid-19 test, the fifth-highest official death toll globally.