The first 50 hospitals that will be administering the Pfizer coronavirus jab were revealed last night as Boris Jonhnson warned of the ‘immense logistical challenges’ ahead.
Dozens of hospitals across the country are already set up and waiting to receive the Covid-19 jab after it was approved by health regulators yesterday.
People over 80 and care home staff will be the first to get doses when they arrive next week.
The list of hospitals they can get an appointment from includes 13 in the Midlands, eight in the North West, South East and South West, seven in the East of England and London and only one in each of Yorkshire and the North East regions.
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There will eventually be ‘three modes of delivery’ of the vaccine, with vaccination centres currently being set up and GPs and pharmacies also expected to administer the jab.
The army held a trial run at one of the first mass immunisation sites on Wednesday after warnings that the logistics of getting the vaccine out to people will be ‘complicated’.
NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens told a Downing street press conference that care homes will have to wait because the stock can’t be broken down into batches smaller than 975 at a time.
The vaccine, which must be kept at -70°C (-94°F) until shortly before it is used, means storage must be meticulously controlled for the entire distribution process.
The strict requirements mean hospitals equipped with ultra-cold freezers have been called upon to act as ‘hubs’ where the first people will be vaccinated.
The army’s drill, code-named Exercise Panacea, took place at Ashton Gate football and rugby stadium in Bristol – one of approximately seven regional hubs that will be used to vaccinate the wider population as GP surgeries target at-risk patients and hospitals immunise NHS and care home staff, as well as some patients.
It followed an earlier ‘live play field exercise’ code-named Exercise Asclepius at Epsom Downs Racecourse in October, which was to ‘gauge the capabilities’ of mass vaccination centres, according to the Daily Mail.
During yesterday’s exercise 30 staff and volunteers were looped through the building pretending to be different types of patients, from one suffering an adverse reaction to one with symptoms or one who won’t get the jab.
It is planned that vaccinations will be given at the stadium 12 hours a day, seven days a week. Other venues being prepared to be used as regional hubs include the Nightingale Hospital at London’s ExCeL Centre, Leicester Racecourse and Manchester Tennis and Football Centre.
The Government and NHS will have to get extra permission from the UK health regulators, the MHRA, to break the vaccine supplies down into smaller batches that could then be handed out to care homes.
It is not yet clear how long this might take, but Sir Simon said most of the vaccinations would be given out in 2021, not this year.
Initial batches of the Pfizer jab, which trials have shown to be 95% effective, are already heading to Britain.
Lorries were spotted transporting thousands of doses from Pfizer’s factories in Puurs, Belgium, on Wednesday morning after British regulators gave the vaccine the green light.
The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the breakthrough jab and 800,000 doses will arrive in the coming days – with some expected as early as today.
Boris Johnson said it will be ‘long, cold months’ before all the most vulnerable are protected against coronavirus.
The vaccine announcement came as England exited lockdown with a new ‘strengthened’ tier system in place.
The PM said that life could start returning to normal in 2021 but warned against over-optimism.
Speaking at a Downing Street press briefing he said: ‘So it’s all the more vital that as we celebrate this scientific achievement we are not carried away with over-optimism or fall into the naive belief that the struggle is over.’
The first 50 hospitals to get the vaccine
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals
Cambridge University Hospitals
Chesterfield Royal Hospital
Countess of Chester Hospital
Croydon University Hospital
Dartford and Gravesham Hospitals
Dorset County Hospitals
East and North Hertfordshire Hospitals
East Kent Hospitals
East Suffolk and North Essex Hospitals
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Gloucestershire Hospitals
Great Western Hospitals
Guys & St Thomas NHS Trust
James Paget University Hospitals
Kings College Hospital
Princess Royal University Hospital, Kings
Lancashire Teaching Hospital
Leeds Teaching Hospital
Leicester Partnership NHS Trust
Liverpool University Hospitals
Medway NHS Foundation Trust
Mid and South Essex Hospitals
Milton Keynes University Hospital
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
Northampton General Hospital
North Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
North West Anglia Foundation Trust
Nottingham University Hospitals
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Portsmouth Hospital University
Royal Cornwall Hospitals
Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
Sherwood Forest Hospitals
Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
St George’s University Hospitals
The Newcastle Upon Type Hospitals
University College Hospitals
University Hospitals Birmingham
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire
University Hospitals Derby Burton
University Hospitals of North Midlands
University Hospitals Plymouth
United Lincolnshire Hospitals
Walsall Healthcare
West Hertfordshire Hospitals
Wirral University Teaching Hospital
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals
Yeovil District Hospital
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/12/03/first-50-hospitals-that-will-roll-out-covid-pfizer-jab-revealed-13693393/