NHS Chief Says Key Workers Could Get Vaccine Priority From Mid-February
Teachers and police could get fast-tracked priority for the Covid vaccine as early as mid-February, the head of the NHS has suggested.
Sir Simon Stevens told MPs that there will be “a legitimate discussion” as to whether the independent vaccine regulator should change its plans and give jabs to key workers alongside the over-50s from next month.
In evidence to a joint session of the Commons health and science and technology select committees, the NHS chief said the immediate priority would remain giving vaccinations to the over-70s by February 15.
But in his first public remarks on who should get the jab after that deadline, Sir Simon said that there would be a case for extending the priority to key workers as well as people with disabilities.
“The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation [JCVI] will have to advise on as to whether or not there are certain other groups who should at that point also receive priority,” he said.
“People, say, with learning disability and autism; certain key public service workers – teachers, the police – they will all have to be factored in in that post February 15 prioritisation decision as well.”
Asked by Greg Clark MP if his priority was to next get the over-50s and over-60s vaccinated to reduce pressure on NHS beds, Stevens replied there were other considerations.
“Purely from the point of view of reducing the number of hospital beds occupied by patients with coronavirus, that’s right,” he said.
“But that’s not the only consideration that policymakers would want to take into account, which is why I think teachers and police and other key public service workers – you know, that will be one of the discussions that will need to be had.
“To state the obvious, fundamentally the most important thing is just to get the overall infection rate down. This is not principally about pressure on the NHS. This is principally about reducing the avoidable death rate, and it is excess infections that give rise to...
