UK could be “weeks away” from mass Covid vaccinations, says Matt Hancock
Author: Rafi Benady | Friday 20th November 2020
Health Secretary Matt Hancock today said he is hopeful that the UK is weeks away from rolling out mass Covid-19 jabs.
The government says it is hopeful that it could administer as many as one million vaccines per day as part of the biggest vaccination programme in history.
He is planning to combine the new Coronavirus vaccine with a flu jab. Mr Hancock told Sky News that the NHS is working towards delivering the two together “at scale” “within a matter of weeks”.
“Normally 15 million people are vaccinated against flu.
“This year it will be 30 million – the biggest number in history.”
He added: “We hope that we will also have a Covid vaccination programme alongside that.
“It will be a huge effort, but I know that the NHS is up for it.”
But he didn’t specify how many Covid vaccinations there will actually be.
Mr Hancock also reported the encouraging news that the number of Coronavirus “cases are starting to flatten” due to the national lockdown.
He didn’t say much about what the regulations will be for Christmas, but he said the Government is working with Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to get a UK-wide agreement.
He said: “We want to have a set of rules that are UK-wide, not least because people travel between different parts of the country.”
His words come just after the announcement that scores of mass vaccination sites will be set up across the country.
Around 40,000 staff will be hired to help administer the vaccine, including trained medics, nurses, firefighters, police community support officers and even soldiers.
