LONDON (AP) – British Health Secretary Matt Hancock attended a London medical practice this week to highlight the start of coronavirus vaccinations by local GPs.
There was only one problem: there was no vaccine. He didn’t arrive in time for the Hancock press event.
It was a shameful time for the UK’s top health official and a reminder of the challenges Britain faces when it runs to vaccinate some 15 million people in mid-February.
Family physicians like Dr. Ammara Hughes are crucial to the National Health Service’s plan to expand vaccines from hospitals and clinics to doctor’s offices across the country.
“It’s more frustrating than a concern,” Hughes told Sky News. “If we had a regular supply, we have the capacity to vaccinate 3,000-4,000 patients a week … which would ease the pressure on the health service and we could vaccinate more and more people quickly and hopefully we will get out of the pandemic.”
To make sure the vaccines arrive at the right place at the right time, along with the syringes, alcohol swabs and protective equipment needed to administer them, the government has summoned the army.
Brigadier Phil Prosser leads the Army response. He is commander of the 101st Logistics Brigade, which normally supplies supplies to British forces in war zones.
“My team is used to the complexity and construction of high-speed supply chains in the toughest and most difficult conditions,” Prosser said during a briefing Thursday. “In this case, the mission is to support the NHS in distributing the maximum amount of vaccine to minimize the number of infections and deaths as quickly and safely as possible.”
The stakes could not be higher for the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, as it fights against a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus that has spread across Britain, forcing it into a third national blockade.
The number of patients with COVID-19 in UK hospitals is already 50% higher than the first peak of infections, and deaths reported on Friday reached 1,325, the highest number since the start of the pandemic.
The rising infection threatens to overwhelm hospitals, making it heavier for doctors and nurses who are already tired after nearly a year of pandemic.
“We are hearing about people being treated in ambulances and parking lots outside the hospital because there is no space to accommodate people,” said Dr. Tom Dolphin, anesthetist at the hospital and spokesman for the Medical Association board. British. “It’s getting to the point where we’re struggling to maintain basic standards in some hospitals.”
The government’s goal is to deliver the first doses of vaccine to all people over the age of 70, as well as to front-line health workers, home residents and anyone whose health makes them especially vulnerable to the virus by the middle of the month. coming. They are more than 15 million people.
Since Britain became the first country to launch a mass vaccination program on 8 December, the NHS has fired nearly 1.5 million arms.
It plans to offer vaccines to hundreds of GP offices and community pharmacies. There will also be seven mass vaccination centers at convention centers and sports stadiums, in addition to 223 hospitals.
“This is a national challenge on a scale like nothing we’ve seen before and will require unprecedented national effort,” Johnson said.
But can the NHS deliver an average of more than 2 million shots a week over the next six weeks?
“My view is that the vaccination schedule is realistic, but not easy,” Chris Whitty, chief English doctor, said on Tuesday.
The UK has recorded close to 80,000 deaths related to COVID-19, the deadliest outbreak in Europe and the fifth highest in the world. The pandemic has prevented families from gathering, stopped employing 819,000 people and devastated companies forced to close by restrictions designed to control the spread.
Although the government has agreed to buy vaccines from seven different producers, so far British regulators have only authorized the use of those manufactured by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna.
Britain has the right to buy up to 140 million doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots, just to give its 67 million residents the necessary doses. The 17 million doses of Moderna will not arrive until spring.
But supplies are unsecured due to global demand, as well as the challenges of producing, testing and administering vaccines.
To extend the limited supply, Britain has already taken the controversial step of delaying the second dose of vaccine by up to three months in order to be able to give the first dose to as many people as possible.
While increasing the vaccination program will be tricky, the NHS structure is likely to help it succeed, said Siva Anandaciva, chief policy analyst at King’s Fund, a think tank focused on improving care. medical in England.
“Primary care is cavalry to help administer the vaccine,” Anandaciva said. “The primary care workforce is key to the next phase of the process.”
But those forces have already spread through the pandemic and everyone in the NHS is tired. However, GPs will be asked to work harder.
“They are extending the schedules to make sure as many people can get the vaccine as possible,” Anandaciva said. “So it’s going to be a long slogan for the next few months.”
But it’s a bright spot in a dark moment. David Halley, 83, was overjoyed to receive the vaccine at the local GP this week.
“I don’t want to get sick and I have family and grandchildren, etc., so it’s important,” he said. “I thought … Is it fair to go there? And then I thought, well, if not, I’ll occupy a bed in the intensive care unit that someone could use and that would be a waste of time and oxygen. So it’s better to do it. “
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