NHS Fife’s Director of Pharmacy has welcomed the news that the first Covid-19 vaccine could be rolled out in Fife as early as the start of next week.
The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for mass vaccination.
Britain’s medicines regulator, the MHRA, says the jab, which offers up to 95 per cent protection against coronavirus is safe to be rolled out.
The first doses are already on their way to the UK, with 800,000 due in the coming days.
Scott Garden, NHS Fife Director of Pharmacy said:
“NHS Fife has been working around the clock over the past few weeks to ensure that we have robust plans in place to take forward the delivery of Covid-19 vaccine in Fife and we plan to start to vaccinate our vaccinators as early as next Tuesday.
“The roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine is being led by the Scottish Government and the majority of details will be determined at a national level.
“The logistics of delivering the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine - which needs to transported and stored at minus 70C - will be challenging, but we are confident that through our carefully coordinated programme we will be able to deliver the vaccine safely in a phased approach.
“The priority groups in the first phase are health and social care staff, care home staff and residents, and people over the age of 80. These groups will be vaccinated between December and February.
In her daily press briefing yesterday (Wednesday), First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pointed out everyone will require two doses of the vaccine 21 to 28 days apart, so it will take until early in the New Year to complete the first vaccine courses.
