Coronavirus: Care home residents and staff first in line for Pfizer vaccine

Care home residents are the “highest priority” for a new coronavirus vaccine which could arrive by Christmas, England’s deputy chief medical officer has said.

England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam. Credit: 10 Downing Street

Older care home residents and care home staff are likely to be top of the list for a new vaccine, developed by Pfizer which has been found to be 90 per cent effective, the country’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said.

In a Downing Street briefing last night, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam told the public: “If you look at the staggering likelihood of hospitalisation or death, with increasing age and in the elderly, I predict very strongly that there will be a very significant demand in the elderly for this vaccine.

“The vast majority of hospitalisation and death is being driven by the elderly and that hospitalisation rates rise very dramatically after the age of 50".

Professor Van-Tam said the independent body, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) “will guide the government on the priorities" of who gets the vaccine but a “preliminary priority list” shows “age is the biggest priority”.

“The published JCVI advice begins with a top priority group: older adults resident in care homes and care home workers".

The JCVI priority list is as follows:

1. Older adults resident in a care home and care home workers

2. All aged 80+ and health and social care workers

3. All aged 75+

4. All aged 70+

5. All aged 65+

6. High-risk adults aged under 65-years-old

7. Moderate-risk adults aged under 65-years-old

8. All aged 60+

9. All aged 55+

10. All aged 50+

11. Rest of the population (priority yet to be determined).

A final decision on who gets the vaccine first, will depend on whether the vaccine works well on older people.

The vaccine requires two doses to be administered. The UK has bought enough of the vaccine to treat a third of Britain's population - amounting to 40 million doses which can treat 20 million people. Ten million doses could arrive this year if it passes regulatory checks.

'Hopeful' we'll see vaccine by Christmas

Professor Van-Tam said he is "hopeful” that “we could start to see some vaccine by Christmas". However, he said the vaccine will not arrive in time to tackle the country’s current second wave of the virus.

"We've seen a swallow," he said, "but this is very much not the summer - please don't relax."

The vaccine which will be delivered in care homes, has been developed by US drug company Pfizer and German firm BioNTech. It has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries- with 22,000 having received the vaccine.

Vaccine trials in the US, Germany, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and Argentina – reveal 90 per cent protection is achieved after a second dose.

The vaccine has raised no safety concerns and the firms are applying for emergency approval to use it from the country’s regulatory body the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) by the end of November.

Two doses are required followed by a wait of 14 days, Professor Van-Tam said, before an individual is protected. He confirmed it is not yet known if the vaccine stops individuals from spreading the virus or only from developing symptoms. It is also not known how long a person’s immunity to the virus will last.

PM: Not 'a slam dunk'

“This is really a very important scientific breakthrough, I’m certain of that” the deputy chief medical officer said, adding that this vaccine "will prevent illness" from COVID-19 as diagnosed by a PCR test.

"We do not know yet if these vaccines will prevent asymptomatic infection. And therefore we do not know if these vaccines will prevent virus shedding, and therefore have an effect on community transmission."

The mRNA vaccine targets the S-protein in the virus, with the vaccine giving antibodies against the S-protein. It was developed by injecting part of the virus' genetic code into a person, which then produces the coronavirus spike protein. This sparks the immune system to produce antibodies and activate T-cells to fight cells infected by the virus.

During the Downing Street briefing, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he didn't want "to let people run away with the idea that this development today is a home run, a slam dunk, a shot to the back of the net".