LONDON (AP) – British health secretary Matt Hancock appeared at a doctor’s office in London this week to highlight the start of vaccinations against the coronavirus by local GPs.
There was only one problem: there was no vaccine. It was not in time for Hancock’s press event.
It was an embarrassing moment for the UK’s top health officer and a reminder of the challenges Britain faces when it plans to vaccinate some 15 million people by mid-February.
GPs such as Dr. Ammara Hughes are pivotal to the National Health Service’s plan to expand vaccinations from hospitals and clinics to doctor’s offices across the country.
“It’s just more frustrating than worry,” Dr. Hughes to Sky News. “If we had a regular supply, we would have the capacity to vaccinate 3,000 to 4,000 patients per week… which would ease the pressure on the health service and we could get more and more people vaccinated quickly, and hopefully get out of the pandemic. “
To make sure vaccines get to the right place at the right time, along with the syringes, alcohol wipes and protective equipment needed to administer them, the government has called in the military.
Brigadier Phil Prosser is leading the army response. He is commander of 101 Logistics Brigade, which normally provides supplies to British forces in war zones.
“My team is used to complexity and building supply chains quickly in the most harsh and challenging conditions,” said Prosser during a briefing on Thursday. “In this case, the mission is to support the NHS in delivering the maximum amount of vaccine to minimize infections and deaths as quickly and safely as possible.”
The stakes couldn’t be higher for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government, which is fighting a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus that has engulfed Britain and forced it into a third national lockdown.
The number of COVID-19 patients in UK hospitals is already 50% higher than during the first peak of infections, and deaths reported Friday reached 1,325 – the highest number since the start of the pandemic.
The wave of infection threatens to overwhelm hospitals, putting more strain on doctors and nurses already tired after nearly a year of the pandemic.
“We hear that people are being treated in ambulances and in parking lots outside the hospital because there is no room to bring people in,” said Dr. Tom Dolphin, anesthetist at the hospital and spokesman for the board of the British Medical Association. “It gets to the point where in some hospitals we are struggling to maintain basic standards.”
The government’s goal is to provide the first doses of vaccine by the middle of next month to anyone over the age of 70, as well as primary health workers, nursing home residents and anyone whose health makes them particularly vulnerable to the virus. That’s more than 15 million people.
Since Britain was the first country to initiate a massive vaccination program on December 8, the NHS has shot nearly 1.5 million weapons.
It will offer vaccinations at hundreds of GP practices and community pharmacies. There will also be seven mass vaccination centers in convention centers and sports stadiums, as well as 223 hospital locations.
“This is a national challenge on a scale we have never seen before and it will require unprecedented national effort,” Johnson said.
But can the NHS deliver an average of more than 2 million shots per week over the next six weeks?
“I believe the vaccine timetable is realistic, but not easy,” Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said Tuesday.
The UK has recorded nearly 80,000 deaths related to COVID-19, the deadliest outbreak in Europe and the fifth highest in the world. The pandemic prevented families from meeting, put 819,000 people out of work and forced devastated businesses to close due to restrictions designed to control the spread.
Although the government has agreed to purchase vaccines from seven different manufacturers, UK regulators have so far only authorized the use of the vaccines from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna.
Britain has the right to purchase up to 140 million doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca shots, barely enough to give its 67 million residents the required two doses. The 17 million doses of Moderna won’t arrive until spring.
But supplies are not assured due to global demand and the challenges of vaccine manufacturing, testing and delivery.
To expand limited supplies, Britain has already taken the controversial step of delaying the second dose of vaccine to three months so that it can give the first dose to as many people as possible.
While ramping up the vaccination program will be complicated, the structure of the NHS is likely to help it succeed, said Siva Anandaciva, chief policy analyst at the King’s Fund, a think tank focused on improving medical care in England.
“Primary care is the cavalry that helps administer the vaccine,” Anandaciva said. “Primary care personnel are key to this next phase.”
But those forces have already been stretched by the pandemic, and everyone in the NHS is tired. Nevertheless, GPs will be asked to work more.
“They are extending the hours to make sure that as many people as possible can get the vaccine,” Anandaciva said. “So it will be quite a job in the coming months.”
But it is a bright spot in a dark time. David Halley, 83, was overjoyed to get his vaccine from his local GP this week.
“I don’t want to get sick and I have family and grandchildren and so on, so it’s important,” he said. ‘I thought … Is it fair to go? And then I thought: if I don’t, then I’m going to occupy a bed in intensive care that someone else could use and that would be a waste of time and oxygen. So it is best to do it. “
___
Follow AP coverage of the coronavirus pandemic on:
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus vaccine
https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak