NHS planning to start covid vaccination of under 50s by end of January

The NHS’ current plan for the covid vaccine rollout — dependent on the arrival of supplies — would see the whole adult population able to begin receiving it before the end of January, according to leaked documents seen by HSJ.

Under the plan, everyone who wants to would have been vaccinated by early April.

NHS England’s draft COVID-19 vaccine deployment programme, seen by HSJ,  reveals when each cohort is likely to begin receiving it, based on its plans to create huge capacity across GP-run facilities, “large scale mass vaccination sites”, NHS trusts, and “roving models” for those who cannot travel.

It relies on a range of assumptions including that there will be 75% takeup, outside of residential settings like care homes and prisons, where 100% is expected.

The plan also relies on supplies, including more than 7 million doses being available in December. It is not clear what impact a delay to this would have on the rollout. With most doses due to be administered between early January and  mid March — at a rate of 4-5 million every week — a small delay may not make a huge impact to the overall schedule.

The document is dated 13 November and was shared among some senior NHS regional leaders yesterday.

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Source: HSJ, 23 November 2020