BORIS Johnson today hailed the Covid vaccine as a “biological jiu jitsu” to defeat the “invisible enemy” and get Britain back to normal within months.
The PM addressed the nation this evening on the hopeful vaccine news this evening but urged people to “not carried away with over optimism” just yet.
The PM appeared tonight with NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens and England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam.
He admitted there were “immense logistical challenges” with delivering the vaccine – and that the NHS would contact people in the order it would be rolled out.
And he said there was now no longer just a “hope” that things could get back to normal.
He said tonight: “We are no longer resting on the mere hope we can return ot normal but rather the sure and certain knowledge that we will succeed and reclaim our lives and all the things about our lives that we love.”
NHS boss Simon Stevens said they were gearing up for the biggest vaccination programme in the history of the health service.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van Tam reveals today he was “quite emotional” at this morning’s vaccine news.
But he warned that everyone must be “patient and realistic” about how the jab is rolled out.
And he said that while they were “very hopeful” it would prevent transmission, the experts didn’t yet know it for sure.
At PMQs earlier today the PM thanked everyone involved in the development of the vaccine and said it would help us to “reclaim our lives” again.
And he confirmed that people in care homes would be the first to get it – with the oldest residents first.
But they haven’t set out a time frame yet on how quickly they will get it.
MP Chris Green said vaccines should only be given out on a voluntary basis – and the PM agreed.
He said it is “not part of our culture or ambition” to force jabs onto anyone, but that people should take it if they can.
He also warned people not to get “their hopes up too soon at the speed we are able to roll out this vaccine”.
The bulk of the doses will be dished out next year.
The jab is the first of several that are expected to be approved in the coming weeks – including the Oxford vaccine.
The PM tweeted this morning: “It’s fantastic that @MHRAgovuk has formally authorised the @Pfizer/@BioNTech_Group vaccine for Covid-19. The vaccine will begin to be made available across the UK from next week.
“It’s the protection of vaccines that will ultimately allow us to reclaim our lives and get the economy moving again.”
Earlier today it was confirmed Britain is the first country in the world to give a jab the green light.
Experts deemed the vaccine, which is made in Belgium, was safe, meaning the rollout to millions of people can now begin.
The news came as:
- England’s second national lockdown ended today, plunging the nation into harsher restrictions – but opening shops, gyms and leisure centres
- 50 NHS hospitals will be ready to deliver the jab from next week
- Care home residents, NHS staff and the elderly will be among the first to receive drug
- UK has secured 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine – enough to vaccinate 20 million people – with 10 million doses due in the UK by the end of the year
- The Nightingale hospitals, along with football clubs, race-courses and tennis courts, will be transformed into mass vaccine centres
- A scientist warned it may take six months to get everyone vaccinated
About 800,000 people will be able to get access to the vaccine from next week, and millions across December.
The jab needs to be kept at -70C and needs two doses taken 21 days apart to be effective.
The jab – which is 95 per cent effective and developed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and German firm BioNTech – is safe for use, health regulators say.
It means the UK is the first country in the world to give a vaccine the green light.
It will be deployed as “quickly as it is manufactured”, the Health Sec said.
England’s chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said that, despite the vaccine news, “we can’t lower our guard yet”.
He tweeted: “The independent regulator authorised the first vaccine for use against Covid-19.
“This is excellent news and a step towards normality. It will take until spring until the vulnerable population who wish to are fully vaccinated. We can’t lower our guard yet.”
Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster said the vaccine approval is an early “Christmas present”.
