Would you pay for an early vaccination?

[MilkTrayLimeBarrel]

Just that really - if a vaccine is developed and proven to be safe, would you be prepared to pay to get one early?

If not, and it is rolled out to the public, in which order do you think people will be given it?

I think the government might act to control the supply of vaccine (under further emergency legislation if necessary) and ban the private sale within UK for a period.

It might be impossible to prevent people trying to source if from overseas. But they may well find that other governments have sake and export bans too. I think there would be considerable public support for the entire national supply to be administered by NHS

I think I'd prefer to wait and see how it pans out with the vaccine 🤷🏼‍♀️

I don’t mind paying for vaccinations. I do anyway even though I can get it free. That’s for convenience more than anything.

But I would only want one if the priority groups had Equitable and free access.

Page 43 of The Document of 11 May, "the Government is investing in the UK’s sovereign manufacturing capability to ensure that at the point a vaccine or drug-based treatment is developed it can be manufactured at scale as quickly as possible".

Making the entire supply NHS only would only work if there are no restrictions on people in the meantime (including travel). People at the back of the queue will be waiting years for the NHS to get around to them. That will be fine for people not too concerned about Covid risks if they're able to travel, won't be if they're not.

These people absolutely should have the option to pay for a vaccine themselves.

"People at the back of the queue will be waiting years for the NHS to get around to them"

Why?

Genuine question. NHS has capability to administer 25m flu jabs, most of which are actually done in the space of 2 months. It takes 2-3 months to make/deliver it to GPs, pharmacies and school vaccinations teams. So it should all be done in a year or so, assuming major switch of production.

(Though of course that all goes wrong if reinforcing doses are needed, but we don't know that yet)

I will absolutely pay to have it, especially if the alternative is to wait on the NHS. None of us are in the high risk category so it will take a while for it to be rolled out for low risk.

Nether, I'm guessing, I'm no expert, but re your comparison with flu jab

1. whole world needing exact same vaccine at exact same time, I'm presuming flu jab doesn't all have to be manufactured all in one go and distributed worldwide at immediately. There is a flu season run up every year, right?

2. capacity do deliver 25 million within 2 months. Is that a Matt Hancock capacity? Does it actually deliver that many in two months or is this some kind of theoretical capacity?

I'm far from an expert, but afaik they begin manufacturing the yearly flu jab really quite early. They have to base it on which strains were prevalent in the Southern Hemisphere season. Obviously there are experts involved, but because it's still a bit of a guess, that's why we often get limited effectiveness. It's got something to do with an egg medium as well. Maybe that's why eggs are hard to get just now!!

Coronaviruses aren't influenza viruses though. They mutate less dramatically for one thing.

I'm poor, but if I could possibly afford it, I would probably pay for the DC to get it. I think there is a worrying trend going on wrt healthcare in this country just now though, the 'donations' to the NHS, the fact it's difficult to get a test if you can't drive or afford the petrol for the long trip.

I would be wary of such a new vaccine as well, but on balance would probably do it.

"There is a flu season run up every year, right?"

Yes, and it's the 2-3 months between the WHO deciding which strains should be included and the time deliveries start arriving. Vaccine production schedules allow for that peak. So yes it would take rearrangement of other vaccine production, but you can set against that additional capacity (governmental/Gates Foundation/other philanthropist support will pay for the scaling up) and of course that manufacturers will start planning creatively as soon as an effective vaccine looks likely. Gates has said he will pay for production to begin ahead of approvals (even though this risks considerable waste) to get a head start on it all - increased capacity is likely to come on stream before any vaccine is approved.

The good news is that there is no news on the vaccine trials, which means (I hope) that no major safety issues have become apparent (yet, don't want to tempt fate!)

Yes I'd pay.