When do you think mass vaccinations will start in the UK?

[Davespecifico]

Anyone in the know have any thoughts? Thanks

That’s good news @mrshonda.

‘Mistakes’ aside its not uncommon for a new drug to be found to be more effective whilst in use or for other conditions. If people have ever come across ‘off-licence’ prescribing that’s exactly what’s happened. There isn’t enough data yet to approve it for a universal use but there’s enough evidence to justify its use.

It’s an ongoing process.

They've been asked to start looking at the Oxford vaccine today for approval. Assume that given 50% effectiveness was going to be acceptable before any results, they will just work with the results they've got and approve or not on that basis. It's the best chance for countries with less infrastructure, lower cost, non profit and so it's important for those countries.

I would be more quickly persuaded by a herd of unicorns than that the government will spend £30 per head much beyond the NHS when something for £2.63 may be on its way.

Why would the NHS throw away vaccine it has already purchased, and for which it has made extensive plans for roll out?

Because it will sell it on to private providers

NHS worker here in a local surgery. Just got the (normal) flu vaccines for 50-64 and we will be doing all of them by 12 December (which is going to be bloody hard work). we've been told to be prepped for Covid vaccinations from early January onwards.

What is the plan for rollout? Will it be a date of birth lottery draw on telly, Contagion style?

Imagine if in spite of all our expectations, it was actually handled efficiently and speedily?

A friend ( care home worker) and her colleagues have appointments for December 4th. I assume it's pending approval, but plans are definitely in place.

I am having tge flu vaccine as an over 50. On the 9th at 5:27pm in the local theatre - the seats fold away.
I think that this is the trial run on how they will rollout the covid19 vaccine...

If the Oxford vaccine is approved, it’s likely to be the full/full dose:

Prof Helen Fletcher, a professor of immunology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told the Guardian it was likely that AstraZeneca and Oxford would seek a licence for the full-dose regime, which protects 62% of people from developing Covid.

“They have immunised a much larger number of people with the higher doses and importantly this includes the older people who are more at risk of serious disease,” she said. “The dataset for the lower-dose regimen might not be large enough for licensure as it stands, so it makes sense to do another trial with the lower dose – including older people – and seek an amendment for use of this dose when they have enough data.”

Our trust in London will be one of the leading trusts in the country for the mass vaccination. We are receiving quite a few emails about the vaccine. This week the emails imply that vaccinations will not start next week but potentially the week after. Also encouraging staff to have flu vaccine now as there needs to be a gap between the two.

@RosesAndHellebores

Because it will sell it on to private providers

What a bizarre thing to say. Why would they do that? Why would private providers want to buy it?

read earlier today that it can start to be injected the very day it gets approved by the regulator. no date but next week or week after very possible. So assume manufacturing and logistics must be in place they're just waiting for green light? Or is that wildly optimistic. it makes sense that they won't have much of it initially and actually Jan or more likely Feb (or later) is more realistic for mass vaccination.

As much as I hate the government right now I think it's right not to put a date until they're absolutely sure, save looking like idiots yet again.

@Frazzled2207 earlier in the year, before the phase 3 trials had even started, a sizeable number of doses were manufactured on the understanding they might not ever be used if the vaccine didn’t work. There was a mixture of confidence in the science behind it and the urgency it would be required with if approved. I think that’s happened with a few of the front runners.

@Cornettoninja
Thank you. I'm just wondering why the media aren't able to get pictures of the little vials through the manufacturing process. Surely that would be a great front page.

9th December in Nottingham as long as it's approved.

mums a nurse and she's been told next week for the Pfizer jab (in Bournemouth)

[quote Frazzled2207]@Cornettoninja
Thank you. I'm just wondering why the media aren't able to get pictures of the little vials through the manufacturing process. Surely that would be a great front page.[/quote]
It's likely to do with the need to maintain strict sterility in the filling and packaging process.

Emails in Edinburgh about vaccinating NHS staff next month. And plans being drawn up for over 80s and logistics for huge walk throughs in big arenas plus the drive through sites that are being used for the flu vaccination may be used too

I'm involved in the local plans to roll out to half a million people. We have to be ready for 1 Dec but no one knows when we will get vaccine. None of the vaccines yet has regulator approval.

If the MHRA approves the AZ vaccine, roll out could start next month: it's easy to store and transport, and it uses vaccine technologies that are already known to work for other diseases, so it's not totally novel. This should help with regulator approval and public confidence.

The mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are a different kettle of fish. They are a completely novel technology, and no one knows whether they work in the real world. All we know at present is that they seem to have reduced symptoms in a few dozen people. It's not at all clear how much - if at all - they will help in real life (though, saying that, it's still a fantastic achievement by the scientists concerned to get them this far this quickly). And, even if the Pfizer one gets approval, roll out will be very difficult because of having to keep it so cold.

So the answer to the OP's question depends on which vaccine we are talking about. Fingers crossed that the regulator is able safely to approve the AZ one.

Guardian have an exclusive saying NHS with pifzer vaccine from 7/12

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/27/hospitals-england-told-prepare-early-december-covid-vaccine-rollout-nhs

The mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are a different kettle of fish. They are a completely novel technology, and no one knows whether they work in the real world. All we know at present is that they seem to have reduced symptoms in a few dozen people. It's not at all clear how much - if at all - they will help in real life

I think you're confusing preventing symptomic case with "reduced symptoms", which is a very different endpoint. The Moderna vaccine arm also had no severe cases at all. Based on what we know now, the mRNA vaccines are significantly better than the more traditional AZ vaccine.

www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/promising-interim-results-clinical-trial-nih-moderna-covid-19-vaccine

mRNA therapies have been studied for years in other interventions. It's also a naturally occurring substance that's contained in every cell of the body, so it's hardly a "completely novel technology".

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/army-take-over-ashton-gate-4744075.amp

Based on what we know now, the mRNA vaccines are significantly better than the more traditional AZ vaccine

Well, they are better (or may be better - we haven't see the full data) at preventing clinical symptoms in the small group injected. But we have no idea what that means in terms of real-world immunity or transmission.

I'm not criticising the Pfizer or Moderna scientists: in terms of what they have achieved in a short-time, it's more impressive than AZ, because they are the first functional first mRNA vaccines.. But I expect the regulatory process to be more involved.

I can see the Pfizer vaccine being given in the UK on a very limited scale, before Easter, but I would be surprised to see it successfully receiving a mass roll out. There is also the issue of whether the US government will insist on the US receiving priority. But I hope that AZ will be able to get regulatory approval, despite the dosing cock up.

mRNA therapies have been studied for years in other interventions. It's also a naturally occurring substance that's contained in every cell of the body, so it's hardly a "completely novel technology"

mRNA is a naturally occurring substance.

Inducing mRNA to produce proteins is a relatively new technology.

Inducing mRNA to produce proteins in response to a vaccine is totally new (has been tried before, but not successfully).

No one knows whether the immune response produced actually induces the same immunity as a normal vaccine.

Even with conventional vaccine technology, many potential vaccines which produce an immune response turn out to have no real-world effect.

The initial trial data from Pfizer and Moderna is hopeful, but it's early days. It may turn out to be more spin than substance, or it may turn out that the vaccines are effective, but only in certain scenarios.

I suspect we will see a tortoise and hare scenario, with AZ as the tortoise that turns out to be the winner. I don't have shares in any pharma company but if I did, I'd be buying more AZ! (And, no, I don't work for them or have any affliliation to them)