Vaccine rollout trial by NHS Wales “successful” – “once it comes we will be ready for it”

A “large and successful trial” into the rollout of any future coronavirus vaccines has been carried out in preparation by NHS Wales.

Today the First Minister explained, “The weeks ahead will be difficult and demanding for all of us. But as we look further ahead, there are some signs of how life will get better.”

It is thought that the rollout of at least one of the vaccines could begin in December if given approval by regulators.

The UK Government has secured 357 million vaccine doses from seven different developers – with Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech and University of Oxford/AstraZeneca currently the front runners.

This includes:-

•  100 million doses of University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials
• 40 million doses of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials
• 7 million doses of Moderna vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials
• 60 million doses of Novavax vaccine – phase 3 clinical trial
•  60 million doses of Valneva vaccine – pre-clinical trials
•  60 million doses of GSK/Sanofi Pasteur vaccine – phase 1 clinical trials
• 30 million doses of Janssen vaccine – phase 2 clinical trials

We asked earlier this month how the vaccines would be split across the four nations, First Minister Mark Drakeford said: “It has been agreed between the four nations that the UK Government will lead on procurement of any vaccines.

“As they either succeed or fail, they will secure those supplies on behalf of the United Kingdom.”

“I believe they’re likely to be shared across the United Kingdom on a population basis, so, the way the Barnett Formula works we will get our population share.”

The vaccine will be administered in priority groups with NHS workers and the most elderly would offered the vaccine first. Different age categories will then prioritised before being rolled out to the wider public.

Today the first minister confirmed that work in NHS Wales to administer and store any potential vaccine was underway.

He said: “Last week, the NHS in Wales carried out a large and successful test of all the practical things that will need to be in place once a vaccine is given the go ahead.

“Now that go ahead could be as early as this week. Once it comes we will be ready for it.”

More information on the coronavirus vaccine, eligibility and the preparation work being undertaken by NHS Wales and Public Health Wales can be found here.