COVID-19: Dorset surgeries could be on vaccine standby from next week

A Weymouth GP says there are already plans in place to roll out a possible coronavirus vaccine once it's approved.

GPs are to be put on standby in case of a potential Covid-19 vaccine rollout beginning in December, reports suggest.

GP magazine Pulse reported that family doctors are going to be told to be prepared to start vaccinating over-85s and frontline workers from early December.

Weymouth Councillor and GP, Dr Jon Orrell told Greatest Hits Dorset:

"At the moment it's just getting ready, so the government is helpfully issuing an alert letter to get us all geared up so that should the vaccine become available that we're all prepared and ready to give it in large numbers as soon as we can.

It's moving slightly ahead of ourselves because the vaccines isn't approved but if there's one slight ray of hope with the disease kicking off again, it means that the scientific studies on the effect of the vaccine will be published earlier and as soon as one of them passes the finishing line then we can start rolling it out."

Work has been going on behind the scenes to prepare for any potential Covid vaccine and how it could be rolled out.

Dr Orrell says there are already plans to set up a large 10 station system to deliver a large number in a short time.

Pulse reported that GPs will receive a directed enhanced service'' (DES) from next week which sets out how they deliver a service above their usual contract.

It has been told the DES on a potential Covid vaccine rollout is imminent, potentially by next week''.

How soon could a vaccine be ready?

It emerged yesterday there's a small chance a vaccine could be ready by Christmas.

There are two frontrunners in the Covid-19 vaccine race - candidates from German biotech firm BioNtech and US pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the vaccine candidate being developed by University of Oxford and AstraZeneca.

Both vaccine candidates are currently in phase three clinical trials.

But who would be likely to get the vaccine first? Dr Jon Orrell said:

"All those that have been on the shielding list would be absolutely first in the queue, and then we start, I imagine, with the oldest, particularly getting the over 85 first and then bring it down to 65 and so on. Iit's really important to get this vaccine can you get rid of this killer virus."

Before any vaccine comes to the market, regulators have to confirm they are safe and effective.

It has been suggested that regulators could be getting clinical data within weeks.

The committee which advises the Government on vaccines has already set out the priority groups who should receive any vaccine first.

According to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, older adults resident in a care home and care home workers should be the first to be given any approved vaccine.

Then all those 80 years of age and over and health and social care workers are next on the priority list.