The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social
Care ()
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a
statement on the covid-19 vaccine delivery plan. The plan,
published today, sets out the strategies that underpin the
development, manufacture and deployment of our vaccines against
covid-19. It represents a staging post in our national mission to
vaccinate against the coronavirus, and a culmination of many
months of hard work from the NHS, our armed forces, Public Health
England, and every level of local government in our Union. There
are many miles to go on this journey, but, armed with this plan,
our direction of travel is clear.
We should be buoyed by the progress that we are already making.
As of today, in England, 2.33 million vaccinations have been
given, with 1.96 million receiving their first dose and 374,613
having already received both doses. We are on track to deliver
our commitment of offering a first vaccine to everyone in the
most vulnerable groups by the middle of next month. These are
groups, it is worth reminding ourselves, that account for more
than four out of every five fatalities from the covid virus, or
some 88% of deaths. But of course this is a delivery plan for
everyone—a plan that will see us vaccinate all adults by the
autumn in what is the largest programme of vaccination of its
kind in British history.
The UK vaccines delivery plan sets out how we can achieve that
noble, necessary and urgent goal. The plan rests on four key
pillars: supply, prioritisation, places and people. On supply,
our approach to vaccines has been to move fast and to move early.
We had already been heavily investing in the development of new
vaccines since 2016, including funding a vaccine against another
coronavirus: middle east respiratory syndrome. At the start of
this year, this technology was rapidly repurposed to develop a
vaccine for covid-19, and in April we provided £20 million of
further funding so that the Oxford clinical trials could commence
immediately. Today, we are the first country to buy, authorise
and use that vaccine.
Also in April, we established the UK Government’s Vaccine Task
Force, or VTF for short, and since then it has worked
relentlessly to build a wide portfolio of different types of
vaccine, signing early deals with the most promising prospects.
It is a strategy that has really paid off. As of today, we have
secured access to 367 million doses from seven vaccine developers
with four different vaccine types, including the Pfizer-BioNTech
vaccine, which we were also the first in the world to buy,
authorise and use. The VTF has also worked on our homegrown
manufacturing capability, including what is referred to as the
“fill and finish” process, in collaboration with Wockhardt in
Wrexham. Anticipating a potential global shortage early on, we
reserved manufacturing capacity to allow for the supply of
multiple vaccines to the United Kingdom. Like many capabilities
in this pandemic, it is one that we have never had before, but
one that we can draw on today. So much of that critical work
undertaken early has placed us in a strong position for the weeks
and months ahead.
The second pillar of our plan is prioritisation. As I set out
earlier, essential work to protect those at the greatest clinical
risk is already well under way. The basic principle that sits
behind all of this is to save as many lives as possible as
quickly as possible. In addition, we are working at speed to
protect staff in our health and social care system. All four UK
chief medical officers agree with the recommendation of the Joint
Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to prioritise the first
doses for as many people on the priority list as possible and
administer second doses towards the end of the recommended
vaccine dosing schedule of 12 weeks. That step will ensure the
protection of the greatest number of at-risk people in the
shortest possible time.
The third pillar of our plan is places. As of yesterday, across
the United Kingdom, we have more than 2,700 vaccination sites up
and running. There are three types of site. First, we have large
vaccination centres that use big venues such as football
stadiums; we saw many of those launched today. At these, people
will be able to get appointments using our national booking
service. The second type is our hospital hubs, working with NHS
trusts across the country. The third is our local vaccination
services, which are made up of sites led by GPs working in
partnership with primary care trusts and, importantly, with
community pharmacists.
This mix of different types of site offers the flexibility that
we need to reach many different and diverse groups and,
importantly, to be able to target as accurately as we can. By the
end of January, everyone will be within 10 miles of a vaccination
site. In a small number of highly rural areas, the vaccination
centre will be a mobile unit. It bears repeating that, when it is
their turn, we want as many people as possible to take up the
offer of a vaccine against covid-19.
The fourth and final pillar is, of course, our people. I am
grateful to the many thousands who have joined this mission—this
national mission. We now have a workforce of some 80,000 people
ready to be deployed across the country. This includes staff
currently working within the NHS of course, but also volunteers
through the NHS Bring Back Staff scheme, such as St John
Ambulance personnel, independent nurses and occupational health
service providers. There are similar schemes across the devolved
Administrations.
Trained vaccinators, non-clinical support staff such as stewards,
first aiders, administrators and logistics support will also play
their part. We are also drawing on the expertise of our UK armed
forces, whose operational techniques—brought to life by Brigadier
Phil Prosser at the press conference with the Prime Minister a
few days ago—have been tried and tested in some of the toughest
conditions imaginable. I am sure the whole House will join me in
thanking everyone who has played their part in getting us to this
point, and all those who will play an important role in the weeks
and months ahead.
We recognise that transparency about our vaccine plan will be
central to maintaining public trust, and we are committed to
publishing clear and simple updates. Since 24 December, we have
published weekly UK-wide data on the total number of vaccinations
and the breakdown of over and under-80s for England. From today,
we are publishing daily data for England showing the total number
vaccinated to date. The first daily publication was this
afternoon. From Thursday, and then weekly, NHS England will
publish a more detailed breakdown of vaccinations in England,
including by region.
This continues to be a difficult time for our country, for our
NHS and for everyone as we continue to live under tough
restrictions, but we have always known that a vaccine would be
our best way out of this evil pandemic, and that is the road we
are now taking. We are under no illusion as to the scale of the
challenge ahead and the distance we still have to travel. In more
normal times, the largest vaccination programme in British
history would be an epic feat, but against the backdrop of a
global pandemic and a new, more transmissible variant, it is a
huge challenge. With this House and indeed the whole nation
behind this national mission, I have every confidence that it
will be a national success. I commend this statement to the
House.
17:27:00
(Nottingham
North) (Lab/Co-op)
I am grateful to the Minister for advance sight of his statement.
We meet today at a challenging moment in the handling of the
pandemic. We have growing infection rates, we are in lockdown,
businesses are shut and schools are closed, and tragically more
than 80,000 people have already lost their lives to this awful
virus. The vaccine provides us with a light, a glimmer of hope,
and a way to beat the virus, saving lives and getting us back to
normal.
The Government succeeded in the development of a
vaccine—investing in multiple candidates has paid off
handsomely—but a vaccine alone does not make a vaccination
programme. Given the Government’s failures with the test and
trace system and the procurement of personal protective
equipment, it is right that we scrutinise the plans carefully.
The plan is quite conventional: aside from the new big
vaccination centres, it uses traditional delivery mechanisms
operating within traditional opening and access times. The
Opposition have some concerns about that, as we believe that
exceptional circumstances call for an exceptional response. At
the No. 10 briefing earlier today, 24/7 access was said to be
something that people would not be interested in, which surprised
me; I would like to hear from the Minister the basis for that
view.
Similarly, there is the mass deployment of community spaces and
volunteer mobilisation unprecedented in peacetime. It is the
Government’s prerogative to choose their approach, but I am keen
to hear from the Minister assurance that the plan as written and
set out today will deliver on what has been promised: the top
four priority categories covered by the middle of next month. On
a recent call, the Minister said that the only limiting factor on
the immunisation programme would be the speed of supply. Will he
publicly reaffirm that and confirm that this plan will make
maximum use of the supply as he expects to get it?
I think we would all agree that our frontline NHS and social care
heroes deserve to be protected. At the beginning of the pandemic,
our staff were left for too long without adequate personal
protective equipment, and we must not repeat that with the
vaccine. Protecting them is the right thing to do, reflecting the
risks that they face, but it is also pragmatically a point of
emphasis for us, because we need them to be well in order to keep
doing the incredible job that they are doing.
We are currently missing about 46,000 NHS staff for covid
reasons. The health and social care workforce are in category 2
in the plan, but there does not seem to be a national-level
emphasis on inoculating them immediately. There seems to be
significant variation between trust areas. Will the Minister
commit today to meeting our demand that they all get their
vaccines within the next fortnight? We very much welcome the
clear and simple metrics that he is going to publish each day so
that we can follow the successes of the programme, but as part of
that, will he commit to publicising the daily total of health and
care staff vaccinated, so that we can see the progress being made
against that vital metric, too?
It was reassuring to see pharmacies included in the plan. They
are at the heart of all the communities in our country, they are
trusted and they already deliver mass vaccinations. It was
disappointing and surprising to see them having to take to the
front pages of national newspapers last week to get the
Government’s attention, but now, with them in the plan, will the
Minister reassure the House that he is fully engaged with their
representative bodies and that they are satisfied that they are
being used properly? The number that has been trailed publicly is
of 200 participating pharmacies, but given that there are 11,500
community pharmacies in England, can that really be right? Why
are there not more involved, or is that number wrong? If so,
could the Minister share with us what the number is? On social
care, 23% of elderly care home residents have been vaccinated,
compared with 40% of the over-80s more generally. Given their top
prioritisation, is there a reason for this lag? What plans are
there to close the gap? Is the Minister confident that all care
home residents will be vaccinated by the end of the month, as
promised?
Finally, there has been a high level of consensus across this
place, and certainly between the Minister and me, on
misinformation, and we will support the Government in whatever
they think they need to do to tackle it. We will have a real
sense of the impacts of misinformation as the programme rolls
along, particularly as we look at who is and is not declining the
vaccine. Will the Minister tell us what he will be monitoring in
that regard, and what the early feedback is, perhaps from our own
care staff, on who has been saying yes and who has been saying no
and what that might mean for the future?
We welcome the fact that the Government have published this plan.
We will back them when we think they are right but we will
continue to offer constructive ways to improve the process, as I
hope I have just done. I hope that the Minister can address the
points that I have raised.
I am grateful for the hon. Member’s backing and support. He asks
a number of important questions, and I will attempt to answer
them now. Suffice it to say that it would be sensible for us to
recognise that test and trace now delivers 85% of those who are
tested positive in terms of identifying their direct contacts and
the indirect contacts at between 92% and 96%. Over 5 million
people have been tested and isolated and are therefore not
transmitting or spreading this virus, and 55 million people have
been tested. That is a pretty major undertaking, with capacity
now touching 770,000 and tests running at about 600,000 a day.
From a standing start of about 2,000 a day back in March, that is
a pretty remarkable achievement for NHS test and trace.
The hon. Gentleman asked about 24-hour provision. There are two
priorities for the NHS, and we have looked really long and hard
at this. Priority No. 1 is obviously to target very closely those
four most vulnerable categories. Priority No. 2 is to try to get
a vaccination to them as quickly as possible, which is about
throughput. This is linked because if we were to go to a 24-hour
regime, it would be much harder to target the vaccine at those
four cohorts. Obviously, when we have limited vaccine volume, we
do not want staff standing around waiting for people in centres
that are open 24 hours. Also, many of those people are over 80,
and we are going into care homes to vaccinate the residents of
those homes. The decision to go from 8 to 8 was made because we
want to ensure that there is an even spread and very close
targeting.
That is linked to throughput—how many vaccinations can we get
into people’s arms as quickly as possible? We do not want
vaccines sitting in fridges or on shelves. That goes to the hon.
Gentleman’s question on the 24 hours, but also the pharmacy
question. All the 200 pharmacies that we are operationalising can
do 1,000-plus vaccinations a week, so the focus in phase 1,
certainly with the first four categories—and, I think, with the
total nine categories—is very much on targeting and throughput.
The 2,700 sites are the best way that we can target that.
Obviously, primary care is very good at identifying those who are
most vulnerable or over 80 and, of course, getting into care
homes, hence why the NHS plan and the plan we have published
today are very much based around those priorities.
As we enter phase 2, where we begin to want to vaccinate as many
adults as quickly as possible, we want convenience of course. We
want to be able to go into many more pharmacies, so people can
walk to their local pharmacy, or GP, and get their jab, when we
have limitless volumes of vaccines. We have clearly now got that
optioned and it will come through in the weeks and months ahead.
That is the reason for that. The hon. Gentleman is absolutely
right: the limiting factor continues at this stage to be vaccine
volumes. The NHS has built an infrastructure that can deploy the
vaccine as quickly as possible, but it is vaccine volumes that
will change. With any new manufacturing process, especially one
where we are dealing with quite a complex process—it is a
biological compound that we are producing—it tends to be lumpy at
the start, but it very quickly stabilises and becomes much more
even. We are beginning to see that, which is good news.
We are absolutely committed to making sure the health and social
care workforce are vaccinated as quickly as possible, and of
course we are committed to making sure the residents of care
homes are vaccinated by the end of this month—January. I reaffirm
that commitment to the hon. Gentleman.
I think the hon. Gentleman’s final question was on data. I am
glad that he agrees that it is important, because the Prime
Minister’s absolute instruction to us as a team is that we have
to make sure we publish as much data as possible as quickly as
possible, hence why we have moved to a rhythm of daily data and
on the Thursday more detailed publication, which will have
regional breakdowns. The NHS is committed as it builds up more
data to publish more and more. The nation expects, and rightly
wants to see, the speed and the targeting that we are delivering,
but I am confident that the NHS has a solid plan. We have the
volunteers and the Army—two great institutions of this
country—delivering this campaign and with the support of Her
Majesty’s Opposition I am sure we will do this.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
We now go to the Chairman of the Health and Social Care
Committee, .
(South West Surrey) (Con) [V]
I congratulate the Minister on getting this programme off to a
flying start: to vaccinate 2 million people, including a third of
over-80s, six weeks after the first dose was approved is an
extraordinary achievement unmatched by any similar country. May I
ask him about the speed of the roll-out? Many people want
teachers to be jabbed as quickly as possible, but is it the case
that all those in groups 1 to 4 will need their second jabs
before we can make real inroads into other key groups? And will
he publish the breakdown of numbers vaccinated not just by region
but by local authority area, because a lot of people would like
to know just how many people have been vaccinated in their local
area?
I am grateful for my right hon. Friend’s compliment and this is
only the start. I hope that, as we progress in the weeks and
months to come, the focus and the rate of output will continue to
rise.
My right hon. Friend raises an important point around the
critical workforce for the economy, like teachers. The Joint
Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation looked at all these
issues and has come out very clearly in favour of us vaccinating
the nine cohorts that are most vulnerable to dying from covid-19,
hence why that is absolutely our focus.
We are absolutely committed to making sure that people get two
doses, so if they have received their Pfizer first dose, they
will get their Pfizer second dose within 12 weeks of the first
dose. Similarly, if they have had their AstraZeneca first dose,
they will get their AstraZeneca second dose within 12 weeks. So
those people whom we will begin to reach in March, where we have
to deliver their second dose, will absolutely get their second
dose. But to my right hon. Friend’s point, the more vaccine
volumes that will come, and we have tens of millions that will
come through beyond February and into March, the faster we can
begin to protect those nine categories in phase 1. The moment we
have done that, then it is absolutely right that we should begin
to look at categories like teachers and police officers—those who
may be exposed in their workplace to the risks of this virus.
Of course, it is worth reminding the House that it is two weeks
after the first dose, and three weeks after the first dose with
AstraZeneca, that people begin to get that protection, not the
moment they are jabbed, so there is that lag time as well. But my
right hon. Friend’s point is well made: we need to make sure, as
we protect greater and greater numbers of people in those nine
categories, that we then move very quickly to the next dose.
(Central
Ayrshire) (SNP) [V]
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation was very
clear that those who live in care homes were the top priority for
vaccination against covid-19. Due to integration of health and
social care, Scottish health boards were able to deliver the
Pfizer vaccine into care homes in December, and well over 70% of
such residents have already been vaccinated across Scotland. In
my own health board, the phase is almost complete. So can the
Minister explain why in England care home residents were not the
first cohort to receive the Pfizer vaccine in December, and as
only a quarter have received their first dose, when does he
expect all such residents to have been vaccinated?
People over 80 years are now being offered vaccination, but there
are only 1,200 sites to cover the whole of England—a similar
number to Scotland, which has less than 10% of the population.
This means elderly people are being asked to travel long
distances, despite their age and the fact that many will be also
shielding. As the letter does not offer the option to wait and
have their vaccine at a local GP surgery, does the Minister
recognise that many are now feeling pressurised into travelling,
despite the current dangers? So will he take this opportunity to
clarify that the vaccines will gradually be made available
through all GP surgeries and that elderly patients who cannot
travel long distances will be offered a further opportunity
closer to home?
The Minister will be well aware of the public concern about the
decision to delay the second dose of each vaccine so as to ensure
more people receive the first dose more quickly. With the current
surge in covid cases, I totally understand the rationale for this
approach. So can he explain why there have been more than 300,000
additional second doses given over the last week, despite the
JCVI announcement on 31 December, and can he guarantee that
sufficient quantities of the Pfizer vaccine will be available by
the end of February to ensure those given their first dose in
early December will receive their booster on time?
There is a lot to unpack there; let me try to take the points in
reverse. We can guarantee that those who have had their Pfizer
vaccine will get their booster within the prescribed period of up
to 12 weeks. The hon. Lady asked about those who have had a
second jab already. Information went out to primary care networks
and hospital hubs, saying that those who have an appointment up
to 4 January should be able to have their appointment honoured.
Beyond that, they have been working very closely with the NHS
England team centrally, which we have been supporting with
resources and actually phoning to postpone those appointments
further; hence why we have protected many more people.
It is worth reminding the House that for every 250 people from
the most vulnerable cohorts that we protect, we save a life. For
every 20 people in care homes that we vaccinate, we save a life.
The focus is therefore now very much on care homes. We began with
the Pfizer vaccine into care homes. Of course, last week—on 4
January—we started to roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is
much easier to administer into care homes, especially for the
roving teams. It had to spend two days in hospitals before it was
released to primary care networks, but the moment it was
released, it went into care homes and now some areas in England.
We have about 10,000 care homes where we have to vaccinate
residents and, of course, those who look after them. Some have
done their care homes already; others are beginning to do the
same thing. All will be done by the end of the month.
The hon. Lady talked about people having to travel long
distances. I mentioned in my opening statement about the strategy
that there will be 2,700 vaccination sites. I think she may have
been confused about the figure of 1,200, which is the number of
primary care networks, hospital hubs and large vaccination
centres, but there will be 2,700 vaccination sites. By the end of
the month, no one will be more than 10 miles away from a
vaccination site.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
I thank the Minister for being so assiduous in giving very
thorough answers to the long and complicated series of questions
that have already been put to him, but I must say to the House
that we now have half an hour more for the rest of this
statement, so I insist on having questions, not statements, from
everyone. I specifically mention this to people who are coming in
virtually, because they seem to lose a sense of timing when they
are not here in the Chamber. A question means a question—just one
question. I say to the Minister, who has been most assiduous,
that where he has already given an answer to the question, I will
not insist that he has to give the answer again because the
person who is now asking it has not listened to his first answer.
(Beckenham)
(Con)
I will be as quick as I can, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Some of my Beckenham constituents have contacted me to say that
they think they should have had the vaccination already; two of
them are in their 90s, so I am slightly alarmed. I am told that
GPs are not necessarily the people to go to in order to ask what
is happening, so I wonder who my constituents and I should go to
when the system—inadvertently, perhaps—does not actually give out
an appointment that it might have done.
My hon. Friend’s constituents will be contacted, either by their
primary care network or by letter from the national booking
service. They do not have to go to the national vaccination
centre if that is inconvenient; they will be able to get their
vaccination through their primary care network or the hospital
hubs. I am very happy to take those particular two cases offline,
look into them and give him some more details.
(Twickenham) (LD)
I would like to dig a bit deeper into the supply question. I had
the privilege of visiting a GP surgery in my constituency on
Friday, where I was told by the doctor in charge that they cannot
book the next set of appointments because they do not know when
they will get the next delivery of the vaccine. I have heard from
other centres that they are not allowed to move on to the next
cohort when they finish the under-80s, in order to ensure that
there is equity across the country. The Minister has said that we
cannot have 24/7 vaccinations because of supply. Is the supply
issue the rate at which the product is being manufactured, the
rate at which it is being packaged, the rate at which it is being
batch tested, or the rate at which it is being distributed around
the country?
The hon. Lady asks an important question. In any manufacturing
process—especially a new one—it is always lumpier at the
beginning, and there are more challenges. There are a number of
tests done by both the manufacturer and the regulator; the batch
testing at the end of the process is done by the regulator, to
make sure that the batches meet the very high standards that we
have in the United Kingdom. That will begin to become much
smoother and stabilise, and we have a clear line of sight through
to the end of February, hence why we are confident that we can
meet the target of offering a vaccine to the top four most
vulnerable cohorts on the list of nine from the JCVI by the
middle of February.
We thank the hon. Lady’s local GPs, but it is important for them
to remember that the central team that is doing the distribution
is running at about 98.5% accuracy at the moment, which means
that 1.5% of deliveries are not as we would like them to be. We
will get better at that. As Brigadier Prosser said, this is like
standing up a supermarket chain in a month and then growing it by
20% every couple of weeks. It will get better. The focus of the
central team is to try to give primary care networks —GPs like
hers—as much time and notice as possible, so that they can plan
ahead and get the four cohorts in for their jabs. It is always
difficult at the outset, but it gets better by the day and will
do in the weeks ahead.
(The Wrekin)
(Con)
Would the Minister like to join me in thanking NHS staff in
Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire for having vaccinated more than
15,000 people already? Could he also reassure my constituents who
have received a letter from NHS England inviting them to have a
vaccination in Birmingham or even Manchester—an hour and 45
minutes away—that if they wait just a few more days, they can
choose, if they wish, to have a vaccination very locally?
I absolutely join my hon. Friend in congratulating and thanking
the heroes of the NHS and the volunteers in Telford and Wrekin
and Shropshire for vaccinating 15,000 people—15,000 of the most
vulnerable people to covid who, in a couple of weeks’ time, will
have that protection. He is right, I can confirm, that anyone
receiving a letter where it is inappropriate or not possible for
them to travel that distance to a national vaccination centre
does not have to do so. They will be able to be vaccinated in
their primary care network at a time and place that is convenient
to them. With the national vaccination centres—seven went live
today, and there will be more next week, more the week after and
50 in total by the end of the month—we are trying to effectively
add to the throughput that I described earlier.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I have some good news: my mother, who is 89 years young, had her
vaccine at 9.40 this morning, so it is a happy day—I was going to
sing it, but then it would start to rain, so it is not a good
idea. What system is in place to ensure that if someone does not
turn up for their vaccine, not one slot or vaccine goes to waste,
and that a secondary list is immediately available with staff to
substitute? At Dundonald hospital in Northern Ireland over the
weekend, some people did not turn up, but they were able to call
upon the midwives team to come forward. What policy is in place
to make sure that the vaccine is not lost for use?
The people of Strangford will be pleased to hear that the hon.
Member’s mother has got her first a dose of the vaccine. This is
an important message to send to the whole country: if you are
called up and have an appointment to get the vaccine, please turn
up. This vaccine can protect your life. It can protect somebody
else’s life. It is a shame to not turn up if you have booked an
appointment. The NHS in England has made sure that the hospital
hubs and primary care networks that have been vaccinating, and
now the national vaccination centres, have on speed dial the care
home workers and those on the frontline of the battle against
covid who are in the JCVI’s top four cohorts, so that they can
get them in as quickly as possible and not a single dose is
wasted.
(Basingstoke)
(Con) [V]
I thank my hon. Friend for his incredible tenacity on such an
important project. Our local vaccine centre in Basingstoke serves
six primary care networks across Hampshire, and under his plan,
20,000 over-75s should receive their first vaccination at this
hub from our army of volunteers and local NHS staff in the next
35 days. Can my hon. Friend say how the large difference in
patient numbers at each hub is factored in when vaccine supplies
are dispatched? I reiterate the need for clinical commissioning
group-level data to monitor progress. Can he more urgently
reconsider the priority given to teachers, please?
I think I dealt with the question of teachers earlier, which is
incredibly important. Phase one is to focus on those who are most
vulnerable to dying from this disease. As soon as we get through
that to phase two, teachers and other frontline services,
including police officers and others, will be absolutely
uppermost in our minds and those of the Joint Committee on
Vaccination and Immunisation, which helps us with that
prioritisation.
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the issue of
vaccine supply, and I know that her local vaccination service has
done a tremendous job. There was a slight hiccup, if I can
describe it as that, in making sure that they were recognised as
six primary networks in the system. We rectified that, and I
assure her that the volumes, certainly those of which I have line
of sight, will mean that the service will receive plenty of
vaccines to hit that target by mid-February of offering the top
four cohorts the opportunity of the vaccine.
(Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op) [V]
As of Friday, the staff in care homes in Walthamstow that serve a
smaller community—those with fewer than 20 beds—tell me that not
a single patient has had the vaccine or an invitation to get the
vaccine. The Minister will be aware that the residents are very
aware that they were promised the vaccine originally would come
to them by the end of December. They feel like they are sitting
ducks. With less than three weeks of January left, will the
Minister pledge that all the residents in smaller care homes will
at least get an invitation within the next week, so that they
know when they will get the vaccine?
I think I shared the statistic with the House earlier that for
every 20 residents of care homes that we vaccinate, we save a
life. They are absolutely our priority. I give the hon. Lady this
pledge: we will vaccinate or offer to vaccinate all residents of
care homes by the end of the month. There are 10,000 care homes
in England. Some areas of the country have already vaccinated all
their care home residents. Others are beginning to. We will make
sure that residents of care homes will by the end of this month
be offered the opportunity of a vaccine.
(Wantage) (Con) [V]
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the start to the vaccination
programme. Local health leaders in Oxfordshire have made a great
start, too, but they report a worrying trend of those from ethnic
minorities not taking up the vaccine at the same rate as other
groups. Can my hon. Friend set out his strategy to make sure that
all our constituents take up this vital vaccine?
Information, information, information. I am working across
Government to make sure that we communicate the benefits, both in
terms of protecting the individual, but also in protecting the
communities people come from. Working with black, Asian and
minority ethnic communities is incredibly important as part of
the overall strategy to focus our attention to make sure all
those communities come forward, especially those who work in our
care homes and care for residents. Many of those workers are from
BAME communities. The more that they see people like themselves
taking the vaccine and getting protected, the more effective our
strategy is to deliver that protection to those communities.
(Westminster North) (Lab) [V]
Following on very closely from the previous question, does the
Minister agree that one of the key ways in which we can counter
some of the very virulent anti-vax and covid denial messages on
social media, which are impacting particularly in some
communities, needs to be through not just a myth-busting
approach, but through peer-to-peer positive example messaging
within local communities—within faith groups, between neighbours
and in local social media networks? Can he make sure that he
advises local authorities, clinical commissioning groups and
others to promote examples of where people have had the vaccine,
so that they can be shared to counter some of those more damaging
messages?
The hon. Lady makes a really important point. I pay tribute to
the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy), who reached out
to me with his concerns for his community. Sadly, I see among the
community that my wife and I come from that there is a lot of
disinformation, and not only on social media. There is the very
clever and, I should say, evil use of platforms such as WhatsApp
to share videos that scare people into not having the vaccine.
The hon. Lady is right that local government and local public
health leaders have a central role to play. We are engaging with
them and, of course, making sure that local leaders throughout
the United Kingdom are telling the story. She is right that the
most effective way is for people to see someone like them taking
the vaccine and being protected. We are doing that as well.
(South Derbyshire) (Con) [V]
I thank my hon. Friend for all his work in making sure that the
vaccine gets to all parts of the UK. I ask him to look in
particular at how the roll-out is being managed by the health
services in South Derbyshire. Sadly, compared to our neighbours
in Erewash and Burton, so far only a very limited number of
people have been called to a local site run by our GPs in
conjunction with the clinical commissioning group.
My hon. Friend raises an important point. I commit to looking
specifically at the point she raises. The NHS in England has done
an incredible job, but of course some teams have outperformed
others. We have to learn from the best and make sure we share
that knowledge. If some teams need additional resource and help,
we will do that. That is why we have the additional 80,000 people
in the programme who are ready to help and ready to make sure we
get the jabs into the arms of the most vulnerable people.
(Lancaster
and Fleetwood) (Lab) [V]
For parts of Lancashire, the closest mass vaccination centre is
more than 60 miles away in Manchester. The Minister has said that
there will be more mass vaccination centres, so can he reassure
my constituents that we will get a centre on the Fylde coast and
in north Lancashire?
The hon. Lady is right to highlight the issue of distance. No one
in her constituency or anywhere else in England will be more than
10 miles away from a vaccination site.
(South East Cornwall) (Con) [V]
Like my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (), I am starting
to get queries about vaccinations from elderly residents. I am
sure that this will expand as the roll-out progresses and people
could be missed. What facilities is his Department putting in
place to answer questions quickly from very worried constituents?
My hon. Friend will know that I have engaged with colleagues to
dig deep into the issues their constituents may have with the
vaccination programme. I am very happy to look at any cases she
has. Through the combination of standing up hospitals, the
primary care networks supported by community pharmacies and now
the national vaccination centres, all residents within the four
cohorts should be captured by the primary care services that know
their communities really well. In case they are not, we are also
engaging heavily with local government. One of the lessons of
test and trace is to ensure that we engage with local government,
because it knows its residents really well.
(Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP) [V]
Before the recent spending review, the SNP called for an uplift
in the NHS in England to bring per capita spending in line with
Scotland, and thus provide billions to support the roll-out of
the vaccine and build up capacity. The Treasury announced less
than a third of what we had asked for. Does the Minister expect
NHS England to be able to keep up with the vaccination demand,
despite this lack of investment?
The head of NHS England, Simon Stevens, was before the Public
Accounts Committee today and I am sure that the hon. Lady will
look at his answers. Suffice it to say that the Chancellor has
made £6 billion available for the NHS family to make sure we
deliver and deploy as fast as we can to the most vulnerable
cohorts in our country.
(Aylesbury) (Con) [V]
The national roll-out is undoubtedly extremely impressive, but
unfortunately the benefits are not yet being felt in Aylesbury.
Residents are increasingly concerned that they have been left
behind, and it has been extraordinarily difficult for
Buckinghamshire’s MPs and council to get definite information
about where and when vaccines will be available. Can my hon.
Friend therefore confirm that vaccines will start to be available
in Aylesbury in days rather than weeks?
Absolutely. We must ensure that his residents are within 10 miles
of a vaccination site at the end of this month and as early as
possible to get vaccinating. He is a great champion of his
constituents, and I am happy to look at any specifics he may
have, take those offline and come back to him.
(Chesterfield) (Lab) [V]
The vaccination centre in Chesterfield—the largest town in
Derbyshire—is opening only on Wednesday. It is clear from recent
conversations with Derby and Derbyshire clinical commissioning
group that we are not on target to have all vulnerable groups
done by 15 February, and there is no centre at all in Staveley.
What will happen between now and 15 February to get us from the
current position to achieving the target the Minister has set,
which we all so desperately want him to achieve? Will he also
ensure that there is a centre in Staveley?
It is great to see the hon. Member looking fit and well; I wish
him all the very best. He is right to say that we must ensure
that every part of the country meets that target, offering those
four cohorts the opportunity of a vaccine. We are looking to
ensure that we publish more granular data—regional data—so that
we can see which areas are not keeping up the pace and therefore
direct resources to them, so that by mid-February they have made
that offer.
(Vale of Clwyd) (Con) [V]
I thank my hon. Friend for his statement and for his hard work on
vaccine deployment. Many of my constituents have raised their
concerns over the speed of vaccination roll-out in north Wales.
Will he confirm the quantity of vaccine delivered to Wales so
far? Will he also undertake to publish regular updates on the
delivery of future batches so that it can be clear where
bottlenecks in the roll-out are occurring?
We work closely with the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish
Governments on the programme and ensure that we deliver the
vaccine volumes to them. Although we do not publish the exact
quantities of vaccine for a variety of reasons—including that the
whole world is looking to get more volume of vaccines and we do
not want to disadvantage ourselves in any way commercially—I
reassure my hon. Friend that all the devolved Administrations
will have enough to be able to offer those four JCVI cohorts the
opportunity to be vaccinated and protected by mid-February, at
least with a first dose.
(Vauxhall)
(Lab/Co-op) [V]
Teachers in Vauxhall are working tirelessly to manage the
delivery of classrooms online as well as teaching the most
vulnerable key worker children in our schools. The Minister
highlighted earlier that he will prioritise those most likely to
die and that he will keep teachers at the forefront of his mind.
Can I please ask him why teachers and school staff on the
frontline of the pandemic are not being protected? What is the
timeline for getting them vaccinated?
I thank all the teachers in Vauxhall and the rest of the country
for the work they are doing on online education as well as
teaching children from the most vulnerable families and the
children of our NHS and social care staff on the frontline. The
hon. Member is right to highlight the issue. Some teachers—those
who are clinically vulnerable, for example—will be captured in
the nine cohorts set out for us by the Joint Committee on
Vaccination and Immunisation, as will those in the right age
groups in categories one to nine. I give her the commitment that
as soon as we are through phase one, the priority absolutely will
be to ensure that those who are critical to the functioning of
the future of our country—the future generations to come—are
prioritised.
(Newbury) (Con) [V]
I congratulate my hon. Friend on his excellent start. In Newbury,
we are due to receive our first doses later this week. The issue
is one of information. All my constituents want to know is when
the doses will be received and when their loved ones can expect
to be contacted. May I invite my hon. Friend to work with NHS
England to ensure that timely local information is made readily
available going forward?
I absolutely share my hon. Friend’s concern. I give her that
commitment. The team at NHS England is working and focusing on
giving as much time and notice as possible to primary care and
hospitals on when they get deliveries, so they can make those
appointments and keep vaccinating those who are most vulnerable.
That is exactly its priority at the moment.
(South Shields) (Lab) [V]
Throughout the pandemic, community pharmacies have never
closed—they really have been some of our unsung heroes. The
Shields Gazette, my local paper, has launched its “Shot in the
Arm” campaign. We want to know why the Minister will not allow
all those experienced and dedicated community pharmacies to
deliver the vaccine.
First of all, with respect, that is inaccurate. Community
pharmacies are already part of the primary care networks that are
delivering the vaccines. I have also made very clear in the
strategy that there will be 200 community and independent
pharmacies as part of the vaccination programme in phase one,
where we need that volume and throughput. The community
pharmacies that can do 1,000 vaccinations a week are very much
part of the programme and we thank them for that. As we get to
the next stage, where we have vaccines in limitless volumes, it
is about convenience and ramping up the number of community
pharmacies that can also join in the fight against covid.
(Calder
Valley) (Con) [V]
I congratulate my hon. Friend on a remarkable start. I can
confirm that in Calderdale we have already vaccinated more than
50% of the over-80s. Can I just press him on communication
channels with patients and the vaccination process? We see GP
surgeries giving out very little information. We have already
heard about letters going out for the larger hubs, but people
just do not understand what the process is. Could he work with GP
surgeries and others, so that the general population can
understand the process?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who always asks very important
practical questions. He is absolutely right to say that it has
been challenging. Part of the challenge, which I think we have
addressed today, is the amount of notice primary care networks
and GPs have of a delivery. That will only get better as we
stabilise deliveries to the warehouses and are then able to take
them out into the primary care networks and hospitals. I will of
course work with primary care networks and the whole of the NHS
family to make sure our communications get better and better.
(Salford and Eccles) (Lab) [V]
In Salford, we receive little or no notice that a delivery of the
vaccine from the Government is due. Some batches have not turned
up at all. When they do arrive, we act quickly. It was therefore
staggering when, late last night, our clinical commissioning
group was instructed to cancel 924 pre-existing second dose
Pfizer appointments, with little time to book new appointments
before the batch expires at midday on Wednesday. Will the
Minister now allow local CCGs to plan and order their own vaccine
batches? Can he assure those whose time before their second
Pfizer dose has been elongated that they will be 70% to 90%
protected for up to 12 weeks?
I shall take the hon. Lady’s questions in reverse. The four chief
medical officers have looked at the issue of the up-to-12-week
dosing and all agree that it is the right thing to do. I
apologise to the people Salford for that cancellation, if that is
what happened yesterday. We have touched on this, but part of the
issue has been the lumpiness in the deliveries in the early days,
which will begin to become much smoother. The NHS central team,
with Brigadier Prosser and the 101 Logistic Brigade, are
absolutely focused on making sure that we give as much notice as
possible to primary care networks so that they can plan ahead,
and that will only get better and better as we smooth out the
delivery process from manufacturer into warehouse.
(Burnley) (Con)
The local NHS is doing a fantastic job of rolling out the vaccine
to priority groups in Burney and Padiham, but some residents have
contacted me because they are confused about what process they
need to follow, so will my hon. Friend set out whether residents
need to contact the national booking centre or are better to wait
for their GP to contact them?
If people receive a letter from the national booking centre and
it is more convenient for them to take up that appointment than
to call and make an appointment, they should get their
vaccination done through the national booking centre. If that is
inconvenient, they can absolutely wait and the primary care
network will contact them and give them an appointment to make
sure that they are vaccinated. Our absolute pledge is to make
sure that the four categories that are most vulnerable to
coronavirus are offered a vaccine by mid-February.
(Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP) [V]
In Scotland, care home residents have been tackled quicker than
those in England, overall coverage in Scotland is similar to that
in England, and pro rata Scotland has way more vaccination sites,
yet the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster has caused concern
by stating that the Scottish Government are somehow sitting on
supplies, and he did that by comparing coverage to actual
allocation. As we tackle fake news, does the Minister agree that
it is irresponsible to play politics with fudged figures on such
an important subject?
Scottish care homes tend to be much larger in profile than the
10,000 homes in England. We are very much focused on making sure
that we vaccinate all care home residents by the end of January.
We are working with the four CMOs, who are working very closely
together, to make sure that that particular cohort is protected.
As I mentioned earlier, if we protect 20 residents, we save a
life, and that is what we do.
(Bury
South) (Con)
We should rightfully be proud of the huge national effort that is
taking place to vaccinate the British people against covid. We
have seen the incredible speed and efficiency of Israel’s
vaccination drive, which is on track to vaccinate all over-16s by
the end of March, so what discussions has my hon. Friend had with
his Israeli counterpart about replicating Israel’s success,
particularly in the areas of digitisation and accessibility?
I commend the Israeli Government and health service for a stellar
job in vaccinating their most vulnerable communities. We have a
lot to learn from other countries, including the throughput—the
speed at which they manage to vaccinate—which is something from
which we can all learn so that we can improve our output. NHS
England and the teams on the frontline have been doing a
tremendous job and is worth us all thinking about that: we stand
on the shoulders of real heroes.
Madam Deputy Speaker ( )
We are way over time, so I am going to take only four more
questions and I would be grateful if they could be swift.
(Kenilworth
and Southam) (Con) [V]
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the progress made so far, but
ask him for some reassurance about those whose appointments have
been cancelled due to the vaccine unexpectedly not being
available. Will he confirm that they will not be forgotten about,
that they will not lose their place in the queue and that they
will be reached swiftly?
My right hon. and learned Friend is absolutely right. I can give
him the reassurance that anyone who has had their appointment
cancelled will get that appointment reinstated and will get their
vaccine. Our absolute commitment is to make sure that those four
most vulnerable cohorts have the offer of a vaccine by the middle
of February.
(Nottingham South) (Lab) [V]
I heard the Minister’s earlier comments about vaccinations for
teachers and school support staff, but what about the position of
special schools? Should their staff, who work with profoundly
disabled young people, including those with serious
neuro-disabilities, and who provide personal and intimate care,
not be treated in the same way as frontline social care workers?
The Lady is absolutely right to highlight that cohort, some of
whom will be picked up in category 4 and some of whom will be
picked up in category 6—this will include the people who look
after them.
(South Basildon and East Thurrock) (Con) [V]
Vaccinating those in care homes will ensure that some of
society’s most vulnerable are protected against this awful virus.
However, many people receive care at home, so does my hon. Friend
agree that they should be treated in the same way as those in
care homes, as they have no option but to interact with many
different people?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right; the primary care networks are
best suited to focusing on that and delivering that vaccination,
which will protect those who are most vulnerable from dying from
covid-19.
(Warley)
(Lab)
All credit and our great thanks to the vaccine taskforce and to
our scientists, who have been brilliant in developing the
vaccine. In our history, it has often been production engineering
that has let us down, so may we have some figures? How many doses
are produced each day? What is our manufacturing capacity? Are
there any hold-ups or capacity problems in testing the batches?
How many doses are being filled in the vials each day? Again,
what is the maximum capacity?
It is not our capacity, but the manufacturers’; AstraZeneca
produces the Oxford vaccine, and Pfizer-BioNTech produce their
vaccine, and Moderna’s is now also approved and in process. There
are a number of processes throughout the manufacturing process.
When we go from the bulk vaccine into fill and finish, there is a
period of time and a sterility test the vaccines have to go
through. Then there is batch testing by both the manufacturer and
the regulator. All of that gets better and better every single
day. It is a new manufacturing process. Oxford-AstraZeneca are
delivering 100 million vaccines, which is what we have bought
from them, and we have bought 40 million from Pfizer. We will
have millions of vaccines in the weeks and months to come. We
will meet our target of mid February for delivering the
opportunity of a vaccine to the four cohorts most vulnerable to
covid.
