THE North’s Health Minister Robin Swann has said the first vaccinations against Covid-19 could begin as soon as next week.
He welcomed a “hugely signifcant day” after the UK approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for widespread use.
The UK is the first country in the world to approve the vaccine.
The first vaccinations had been scheduled from 14 December but Mr Swann said this could now “come forward by a few days”.
“We’ll be working through the exact logistics of the dispatch of the vaccine now from Belgium across to the UK and how we get that distributed throughout our system,” he said.
“It is an initial batch, it’s not the full order so it would allow us to stress-test our systems to make sure when the full order does come online that they’ll be in place to roll out that larger programme.”
UK regulator, the MHRA, said the jab, which offers up to 95% protection against Covid-19 illness, is safe for rollout.
Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill said it was “positive news we have all been waiting for”.
She said phase-one of the rollout in Northern Ireland would begin with priority groups, including the over-80s, care home residents and staff and health and social care workers.
She said did not believe the vaccine should be mandatory but encouraged anyone who was eligible to avail of the opportunity to have it administered.
It is thought the North of Ireland will receive about 1.5m doses, with 25,000 coming next week in the first stage.
On Tuesday, Patricia Donnelly, who is heading up the vaccine rollout programme in the North of Ireland, said seven locations around had been identified for trusts to use.
“Some of the locations are in leisure centres that we’ve been able to identify with the help of our emergency planning colleagues and some of them are within hospital premises themselves,” she said.
UK approves Pfizer Covid vaccine for use next week
Dr Alan Stout, chair of the British Medical Association’s GPs group in Northern Ireland said the approval of the vaccine was “really good news”, but that much hard work lay ahead.
“But it is a glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, there’s still a huge amount of work to do and we still need to all be so, so careful in terms of following the rules, following the guidelines over the next coming weeks,” he said.
The vaccine requres two separate injections a number of weeks apart.
The UK has already ordered 40m doses – enough to vaccinate 20m people, with two shots each.
The first doses are to arrive in the UK in the coming days.
It is the fastest ever vaccine to go from concept to reality, taking only 10 months to follow the same developmental steps that normally span a decade.
The vaccine must be stored at around -70C and will be transported in special boxes, packed in dry ice. Once delivered, it can be kept for up to five days in a fridge.
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