Vaccination programme for COVID-19 could start in mid-December

According to the BBC it is widely anticipated that the regulatory body will approve two vaccines this week, which will allow plans to become official.

A digital booking system for healthcare workers is also being set up.

Timings will be critical as people receiving their vaccine will have to socially distance and be monitored for 15 minutes afterwards.

This is to ensure there are no physical reactions.

Once the regulatory medicines body, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), gives the vaccines the go-ahead - a move widely anticipated to happen this week - plans around accepting, storing and delivering them will be firmed up.

It is thought Oxford’s AstraZenica vaccine - the more easily stored of the two - will be used by GPs to vaccinate those aged 80 and over, while Pfizer’s vaccine will be rolled out among healthcare staff and residents of care homes.

It requires much tighter controls around storage and, while healthcare staff will be required to attend the likes of leisure centres to be vaccinated, it is thought that visiting pods in care homes could be used to vaccinate residents.

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