BBC: Covid vaccine: How will the UK jab millions of people?


The UK has begun the mass rollout of a vaccine against Covid-19, aiming to inoculate tens of millions of people within months.

With the military called on to help and sports stadiums and conference centres being converted to temporary vaccination centres, what does it take to deliver the biggest vaccination programme the country has ever seen?

Where is the vaccine coming from?

The first vaccine to be declared safe and effective and approved for mass use by UK regulators is made by Pfizer-BioNTech, which has manufacturing sites in Europe and the US. Initial vaccine doses for the UK are being produced at Pfizer's site in Puurs, Belgium.



Because the vaccine is made using genetic material - a technique never before developed on this scale - it has strict temperature requirements and needs to be stored at a very cold -70C to prevent it from degrading. This means it needs to be transported in a carefully controlled deep-freeze delivery chain.


Before the vaccine leaves the plant, batches of 195 vials are placed in trays and then put inside special ultra-cold thermal boxes, known as "shippers".



These boxes - each containing almost 5,000 doses - are fitted with GPS temperature monitoring devices which constantly send information on the state of the consignment back to Pfizer. These boxes are then transported by plane or truck to the UK for distribution to vaccination hubs.

In addition to the Pfizer vaccine though, two other jabs - developed by Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca - are expected to be approved for widespread use in the UK soon.


Moderna's vaccine will need to be flown in from Switzerland or Spain. Like Pfizer's, it also has to be frozen, but only at -20C, the temperature of a standard freezer.
But the British-made Oxford-AstraZenca vaccine should avoid such challenges, as it can be transported in refrigerated vans or cool boxes and can be stored at normal fridge temperatures.

What happens when the Pfizer vaccine arrives in the UK?

Pfizer's vaccine is taken to a central depot, where batches are tested by a medical logistics company for quality. At these secure sites, each box is opened, unpacked and has its temperature data downloaded, with the process taking between 12 and 24 hours.

Once the quality has been approved, the vaccines are made ready for order by approved NHS sites, or hubs. They are stored in freezers until dispatch.
Once at a vaccination hub, the consignment is removed from cold storage by NHS staff. It takes a few hours to defrost and the contents of each vial needs to be diluted in saline before it is given to patients. The vaccine needs to be used within six hours of dilution.
GP practices have been told they have to get through 975 doses in 3.5 days - the time limit on keeping the vaccine at regular fridge temperature.

How will people get a vaccine?
The Department of Health says, over time, when more stocks are available, people will be able to get inoculated at a number of places. They will be invited to book an appointment as soon as it's their turn, probably by letter or email.
Public Health England (PHE) has said that because the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine "is complex", the first doses had to be administered from hospital hubs. These hubs are dotted around the country and are up and running.


People aged over 80 in hospital, frontline health staff and care home workers have been the first to get the jab.
As soon as there is clarity on how smaller batches of the medicine can be transported safely, care home residents will follow, the Department of Health has said, probably from next week. Together, care home residents, their carers and the over-80s make up an estimated 4.5 million people, while frontline NHS staff make up a further 1.6 million.


People aged over 80 in hospital, frontline health staff and care home workers have been the first to get the jab.
As soon as there is clarity on how smaller batches of the medicine can be transported safely, care home residents will follow, the Department of Health has said, probably from next week. Together, care home residents, their carers and the over-80s make up an estimated 4.5 million people, while frontline NHS staff make up a further 1.6 million.


How long will it take?
The government has said the programme will be "one of the biggest civilian logistical efforts that we've faced as a nation". Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the speed of rollout would depend on how fast vaccinations could be manufactured.
The NHS administers about 14 million flu vaccines per year. But the Pfizer/BioNTech candidate has additional requirements which will make it more difficult to deliver, including the fact people will need to receive two doses, about 21 days apart.


NHS England has said the bulk of the vaccination programme for "at-risk" people will take place from the beginning of 2021 through to March and April.
The amount of vaccine will define "the time to impact", says Prof David Salisbury, a former director of immunisation at the UK Department of Health. "Everything is dependent on the supply of vaccines," he says.

How many doses do we have?
The UK pre-ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and has taken delivery of 800,000 so far - enough for 400,000 people.

The UK was originally planning to have 10 million doses of the Pfizer jab before the end of the year, but it is now likely to receive just four million. Pfizer was forced to reduce its production targets due to challenges securing raw ingredients, among other things, which caused manufacturing delays.

Design by Lilly Huynh and Irene de la Torre Arenas