These are the UK coronavirus stories you need to know about today.
Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine Arriving at Hospital Hubs
The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine will start being given to people in priority groups from tomorrow in what is being described as the beginning of the biggest immunisation programme in history.
Supplies from an initial consignment of 800,000 doses of the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine arrived in the UK from Belgium over the weekend.
"The first tranche of vaccine deliveries will be landing at hospitals by Monday in readiness," said Professor Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director.
People aged 80 and over who attend hospitals as outpatients and those who are being discharged home after a hospital stay will be among the first to receive the vaccine.
Hospitals will also begin inviting over 80s to come in to receive the vaccine and work with care home providers to book their staff in to vaccination clinics.
Healthcare workers who are at highest risk of serious illness from the SARS-CoV-2 virus can also be expected to receive the vaccine where doses become available.
NHS England published a list of the 50 'hospital hubs' in the first wave of the vaccination programme.
The Scottish Government said it was preparing to vaccinate people at 23 centres.
"We are doing everything we can to make sure we can overcome significant challenges to vaccinate care home residents as soon as possible too," said Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.
Meanwhile, it emerged that recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine will not be exempted from self-isolation if they are contacted by the NHS test and trace system.
Downing Street today dismissed the idea that NHS vaccination cards, handed to people who receive a COVID-19 vaccination, were a form of 'immunity passport'.
The Daily Telegraph reported that scientists remain unclear whether the vaccine can stop transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Clive Dix, deputy chair of the Vaccine Taskforce, told a briefing to the Science Media Centre earlier that the vaccines "haven't shown they stop infectivity [and] they haven't shown they stop transmission".
Post-Christmas NHS Pressures
The four chief medical officers of the UK have written to doctors warning that a loosening of coronavirus restrictions over Christmas could increase pressure on the NHS in the New Year.
The letter said that this winter was likely to be "especially hard" for the health service due to the impact of COVID-19.
It said: "The social mixing which occurs around Christmas may well put additional pressure on hospitals and general practice in the New Year and we need to be ready for that."
A rollout of vaccines "is going to be a very considerable logistical exercise for all of us", the letter said.
GP practices have been put on alert to begin vaccinating priority patients in the week beginning 14 December.
In a letter to practices, Dr Nikita Kanani, medical director for primary care at NHS England and NHS Improvement, said: "We recognise the scale and the complexity of this vaccination programme make it one of the greatest challenges the NHS has ever faced, and we are grateful for your continued efforts.
"It is crucial we start to activate local vaccination services to allow priority patient cohorts to start accessing the vaccine."
The Royal College of General Practitioners said it was "truly grateful" for the efforts of GPs and their teams.
Military 'On Standby' for Vaccine Imports: Report
Contingency plans are being drawn up by the Government for military aircraft to fly doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to the UK from Belgium should road traffic be delayed at ports because of Brexit.
The Observer newspaper quoted unnamed sources at the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Defence who it said confirmed the plan would take effect from 1 January 2021 if transport delays occurred.
The UK and the EU are in final talks over whether the UK exits the EU with or without a deal.
COVID-19 Trial Participants 'Inspiring'
More than half a million people across the UK have taken part in COVID-19 research, according to Government figures.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the willingness of people to become involved had contributed to the development of effective treatments and assisted four vaccine trials against the disease currently underway in the UK.
Since March, 73 urgent public health studies into COVID-19 had been set up to investigate a range of potential treatments and vaccines, as well as observational studies to learn more about the disease and research into new diagnostic technology.
The four vaccine trials currently underway in the UK are:
- Novavax COVID vaccine study: A phase 3 trial of NVX-CoV2373 – a recombinant spike protein nanoparticle vaccine developed by US biotech firm, Novavax (11,955 participants)
- Oxford Vaccine Trial: A phase 3 trial of ChAdOx1 – an adenovirus vaccine vector (10,754 participants)
- Imperial Vaccine Trial: A phase 2 trial of LNP-nCoVsaRNA – a self-amplifying RNA vaccine developed by Imperial College (414 participants)
- Janssen Phase 3 Vaccine Study: A study that opened mid-November (aims to recruit 30,000 participants worldwide)
Prof Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England and co-lead of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Professor Chris Whitty said: "The willingness of the UK public to participate in COVID-19 research has been inspiring.
"Science is the only way out of this pandemic. It will find new ways to prevent and treat the virus, and this will allow us to gradually return to normal life. This science cannot happen without those who volunteer to take part in research."
Doctors Intensify Calls for Inquiry Into PPE Shortages
Doctors have stepped up legal efforts for a public inquiry into deaths of NHS staff and care workers during the pandemic because of shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE).
The Doctors Association UK (DAUK) said it had instructed a legal firm to press its case.
The Good Law Project, which is helping to meet the costs of the case, accused the Government of denying explanations to the families of frontline healthcare workers who had lost their lives to COVID-19.
It said some of the deaths could have been due to a shortage of PPE.
Last month, a report by the National Audit Office found serious failures in the PPE supply chain. It concluded that faced with inadequate existing supplies, the Government had resorted to paying inflated prices to secure additional supplies.
Fast Testing for Scottish Care Homes
Visitors to 14 care homes in Scotland will be offered faster tests for COVID-19 in a trial involving five local authority areas.
Testing kits were being dispatched today to homes in North Ayrshire, Fife, Argyll and Bute, Inverclyde, and Aberdeenshire.
Jeane Freeman, Scotland's Health Secretary, said: "This is a positive step for care homes, residents and their families and friends, that will provide another important layer of protection against COVID, alongside the essential PPE and infection prevention and control measures already in place."
See more global coronavirus updates in Medscape’s Coronavirus Resource Centre.
