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Critical workers will be first to get coronavirus vaccine as Britain secures early access to 90 million potential doses
CRITICAL workers will be the first in line for vaccines after Britain secured early access to 90 million potential doses.
The Education Secretary Gavin Williams today praised the new deal with pharmaceutical companies and promised Britain's health professionals would get access to any vaccine first.
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Appearing on Sky News, the senior minister claimed vaccines were the most important weapon against the pandemic.
He said: "There is not a single silver bullet but we do have to recognise the vaccine is the safest and best route of this crisis.
"It is right that the government is making the investment and placing these orders with these vaccines so we have a range of options.
"The first stage will obviously be those critical workers, and there will be a basis of assessment, but it's about making sure we have vaccines for the whole population."
It comes as:
- A quarter of Brits could refuse to take a coronavirus vaccine
- The Tower of London’s iconic Beefeaters face the axe for the first time in 500 years — because of coronavirus
- Separate outdoor non-smoking areas must be set up by pubs, cafés and restaurants under new rules
- Thousands of Brits on benefits will receive an extra two weeks worth of payments when they’re rolled onto Universal Credit
Earlier today it was announced the UK had secured early access to 90 million coronavirus vaccine doses currently undergoing Phase 2 trials with pharmaceutical companies.
A third of the Covid-19 treatments are being jointly developed by BioNTech and Pfizer - which is the first deal the two firms have signed with any government.
The second deal for 60 million vaccine doses is with French company Valneva and includes an option to acquire a further 40 million if the vaccine is proved to be safe and effective.
The clinical trials carried out by Valneva, which has a factory in Livingston, Scotland, are expected to be partly funded by the UK government.
Downing Street has penned a third deal with AstraZeneca which gives the UK access to potentially one million doses of a treatment with Covid-19 neutralising antibodies.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock today told the House of Commons that the "best solution" to coronavirus over the long term was a vaccine.
He said: ";I am delighted to say that Britain continues to lead the world.
"Two of the leading vaccines developments at Oxford University and Imperial College London are taking place here.
"The UK is not just developing world leading vaccines but also putting more money into the global hunt for a vaccine - whoevers vaccine is approved first so the whole world can have access".
He stressed that there was no place for "nationalistic" countries who would keep the vaccine for themselves in a fight against a virus "which does not respect borders".
This jab could protect those who cannot be vaccinated such as people who with weakened immune systems.
The three deals mean priority groups across all regions of the UK will be able to be vaccinated.
There is currently no working vaccine against Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and experts say one will be needed to control the pandemic that has killed over 600,000 around the world.
Today a shocking new survey revealed more than a quarter of people in the UK may refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
The troubling findings come ahead of results of an Oxford University trial which will show whether a jab it is developing is safe and triggers a immune fightback against coronavirus.
Shocking figures suggest 27 per cent of people could refuse the vaccine because they believe myths being peddled by "anti-vaxxers".
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Yesterday anti-vaxxers joined hundreds of demonstrators in London’s Hyde Park who were protesting against the wearing of face masks.
Face masks will become compulsory in shops from July 24 - and anyone who fails to wear one can be hit with a £100 fine.
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One man was photographed wearing a white t-shirt that said: "Save human rights, no to 5G, no to vaccinations", while another woman had the words "question everything" written on the front of her top.
Virus experts say the coronavirus will only be beaten through “herd immunity”, which would be possible if 60 per cent of the population were vaccinated or had recovered from the illness.
Dr Sarah Jarvis explains the UK government's decision to use 500,000 volunteers to test the coronavirus vaccines it has secured
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