Over-50s and key workers to be given priority for coronavirus vaccine, Hancock says

No jab yet available, but production of possible vaccines already under way to build up stockpiles

Over-50s are to be given priority for a coronavirus vaccine when it becomes available, along with key workers in the health and social care sectors and those with heart and kidney disease, the health secretary has said.

No jab is yet available, but human trials began on a second potential vaccine being developed at Imperial College London this week, while production has already started on another possible inoculation at Oxford with the aim of building up stockpiles to be ready for deployment if it is approved for use in the autumn.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street coronavirus briefing, Matt Hancock said his approach to vaccines was ”to throw everything at it as fast as we can” in order to have inoculations ready to use as soon as they are deemed safe.

But the massive demand for protection from Covid-19 is likely to force millions of people to wait their turn, and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) today issued interim advice that jabs should go first to frontline health and social care workers and those at increased risk of serious disease and death because of age and underlying health factors.

Mr Hancock said that work was under way to see whether black, Asian and minority ethnic people should be added to the list because of research showing that they make up a disproportionate share of cases and deaths.

The health secretary said: “In the long run, the best way to defeat this virus is of course the discovery of a vaccine. And since the start we’ve been supporting the most promising projects.

“As of this week, the Imperial vaccine is now in the first phase of human clinical trials. And AstraZeneca has struck a deal for the manufacture of the Oxford vaccine. They’re starting manufacturing now, even ahead of approval, so we can build up a stockpile and be ready should it be clinically approved.”

Mr Hancock said that in deciding who comes first in the queue for the vaccine, ministers will be “guided by the clinical science, prioritising those in most need”.

The JCVI report recommends “priority vaccination for two groups – frontline health and social care workers, and those at increased risk of serious disease and death from coronavirus, including, for example, adults over the age of 50, and those with heart and kidney disease”, he said.

And he added: “As we learn more about the virus, we will continue to take into account which groups may be particularly vulnerable, including for example those ethnic minority backgrounds, so we can protect the most at-risk first should a vaccine become available, and get this country back on our feet as soon as we possibly can.

“Our approach to vaccines is to throw everything at it as fast as we can and rigorously to test and make sure that they’re safe before deployment.”