The UK vaccination program with Pfizer faces challenges, from distributing millions of doses to setting up vaccination areas.
The U.K. vaccination program starts next week, with authorities admitting the distribution will not be easy. Health Secretary Matt Hancock cautioned that the vaccination program would be “one of the biggest civilian logistical efforts that we’ve faced as a nation,” while Prime Minister Boris Johnson cautioned that administering the vaccine posed “immense logistical challenges.”
“Make no mistake, this is going to be a challenging rollout,” Dr Adam Barker and Dr Tara Raveendran, health analysts at investment group Shore Capital, said on Wednesday.
“Although the NHS is well versed in delivering vaccines (it delivers around 15 million flu vaccines per year as an example), the Pfizer/BioNTech candidate has well-flagged characteristics that make it more difficult to deliver.”
Regarding the logistical challenges involved in transporting and delivering the mRNA-based vaccine, the analysts said: “The candidate needs to be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit) for long periods of time and will be delivered in special delivery containers that can house the product for up to 10 days."
“Once the containers arrive at a vaccination site, they can be used for temporary storage for a further 30 days (as long as they are replenished with dry ice every five days) and once the vaccine is thawed, it can be stored at refrigerated temperatures (2-8 degrees C) for up to five days.”
The U.K. has secured 40 million doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine but not all of them will be delivered at once.
“The delivery of the 40 million doses will occur throughout 2020 and 2021, in stages, to ensure an equitable allocation of vaccines across the geographies with executed contracts,” Pfizer said on Wednesday.
“Now that the vaccine is authorized in the U.K., the companies will take immediate action to begin the delivery of vaccine doses. The first doses are expected to arrive in the U.K. in the coming days, with complete delivery fulfillment expected in 2021.”
The U.K. government is believed to be the first worldwide to officially approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for public use, and it means Britain will be one of the first countries to start vaccinating its people.
“The government has today accepted the recommendation from the Independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for use,” the government said Wednesday. “The vaccine will be made available across the U.K. from next week.”
Pfizer’s Chairman and CEO, Albert Bourla, described the authorization as a “historic moment.”
“This authorization is a goal we have been working toward since we first declared that science will win, and we applaud the MHRA for their ability to conduct a careful assessment and take timely action to help protect the people of the U.K.,” he said.
“With thousands of people becoming infected, every day matters in the collective race to end this devastating pandemic.”
BioNTech announced on Wednesday that the delivery of the 40 million doses will take place throughout 2020 and 2021, with delivery anticipated next year.
A spokesman for the U.K.’s Department of Health and Social Care explained they have yet to determine parts of the public that would be the first to take the vaccine.
“The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) will shortly publish its final advice for the priority groups to receive the vaccine, including care home residents, health and care staff, the elderly and the clinically extremely vulnerable,” he said.
