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The British government has expressed confidence in its vaccine supply after Scotland said it was scaling back its Covid-19 vaccination programme because of a slowdown in supply of the Pfizer vaccine. The pharmaceutical company is temporarily slowing down production as part of an effort to increase its global manufacturing capacity, and Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman said Scotland’s rollout would be “scaled back a bit” as a result.
But Downing Street said Covid-19 vaccine supply was sufficient to ensure that Britain would reach its target of offering a first dose to everyone aged over 70 by next week.
“We’re confident of our vaccine supply and we’re confident that we can hit our target of vaccinating all those top four [priority] groups by Monday,” British prime minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman said.
Britain’s success in vaccinating its most vulnerable citizens faster than other European countries comes amid concerns that the Kent Covid-19 variant, known as the 1.1.7 variant, which is now the dominant strain in Britain, is mutating. Sharon Peacock, director of the Covid-19 Genomics UK consortium, said vaccines had been effective against the Kent variant until now, but mutations could undermine their efficacy.
“What’s concerning about this is that the 1.1.7 variant that we have had circulating for some weeks and months is beginning to mutate again and get new mutations which could affect the way that we handle the virus in terms of immunity and effectiveness of vaccines,” she told the BBC.
“It’s concerning that the 1.1.7, which is more transmissible, which has swept the country, is now mutating to have this new mutation that could threaten vaccination.”
Exiting lockdown
Mr Johnson has promised to set out during the week of February 22nd a plan for exiting lockdown, but Conservative backbenchers have become anxious in recent days as the government’s scientific advisers warn that restrictions may have to remain in place for months. Jeremy Farrar, the head of the Wellcome Trust and a member of the Sage committee that advises the UK government, said it would be unwise for ministers to set a date for lifting restrictions.
“I appreciate that businesses have to plan and everything else but the data has to drive us, and in 2020 we lifted restrictions too quickly when the data would not really have allowed that and, frankly, as a result the transmission went back up in this country,” he told the BBC.
“We’ve made enormous progress. The UK deserves great credit for the science behind the vaccines and the rollout, 30 million people now vaccinated in this country. But the transmission rate is incredibly high still and we’ve got to get it lower, we’ve got to get it – in my view – into the single thousands before we can possibly think of lifting restrictions.”
Meanwhile, UK health secretary Matt Hancock announced plans to bring the National Health Service (NHS) under more direct ministerial control, reversing an unpopular restructuring introduced by former prime minister David Cameron’s government.
“At its heart, this white paper enables greater integration, reduces bureaucracy and supports the way that the NHS and social care work when they work at their best – together,” Mr Hancock said.