First Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines to be given tomorrow as second Covid-19 jab is rolled out by NHS

The first of the Oxford AstraZeneca jabs are to be given to patients tomorrow as the NHS steps up the biggest immunisation programme in its history.
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Hundreds of new vaccination sites are due to launched this week, joining the 700 already in operation, with the first jabs to be given on Monday, January 4.

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Up to 100 hospital more sites will be set up across the country this week, subject to final assurance checks, and there will be a further 180 GP-led services joining them within days.

The AstraZeneca vaccine will be administered for the first time in the world tomorrowThe AstraZeneca vaccine will be administered for the first time in the world tomorrow
The AstraZeneca vaccine will be administered for the first time in the world tomorrow

The first doses – which will follow on from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine first given in the UK last month – will be delivered at a small number of hospitals for the first few days for surveillance purposes, as is standard practice, with none of those based in the North East.

The bulk of supplies will then be sent to hundreds of GP-led services later in the week.

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said the delivery marked a “major milestone in humanity's battle against coronavirus” and said by New Year's Day it had vaccinated more people than the rest of Europe combined.

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He added: "Now we have a second, more versatile, jab in our armoury, and NHS staff are expanding the programme as extra vaccine supplies come onstream, and the arrival of the Oxford jab, coupled with more Pfizer vaccine being made available, will allow us to protect many more people faster.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “We know there are challenges still ahead of us over the coming weeks and months, but I’m confident this is the year we will defeat Coronavirus and start building back better.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said the NHS has now delivered more than a million vaccinations to patients across the UK.

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"The vaccine is our way out and this huge achievement brings us a step closer to the normality we’ve all been working hard to reclaim," he added.

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Last week, it was announced the gap between first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine should be lengthened so that more people can be protected faster.

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