Forex Trading For Beginners 2021: Covid: Seven-day-a-week clinics for vaccine proposed

A woman receiving the coronavirus vaccine

Doctors' leaders say they "stand ready" to start providing a Covid-19 vaccine - with proposals being drawn up for clinics to run for seven days a week.

The British Medical Association said mass vaccination centres could be used "in a similar way to testing centres".

It comes after early findings showed one vaccine in development could prevent more than 90% of people from suffering the effects of Covid-19.

A limited number of people may get that vaccine by the end of this year.

The developers, Pfizer and BioNTech, plan to apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of the month.

The UK has ordered 40 million doses - enough to vaccinate up to 20 million people as each person will need two doses for it to work effectively.

The BMA said it expects "vaccine availability to be limited to begin with, meaning only small numbers of vaccine may be given in December and most vaccinations taking place in early 2021".

GPs have been told to prepare to give patients two vaccine doses - to be delivered between 21 and 28 days apart - during clinics that could run between 08:00 and 20:00 seven days a week, according to the doctors' union.

It said that, due to the logistics and delivery requirements, it was likely that groups of GP practices would need to work together with one "designated vaccination site".

"Working together, practices will need to be prepared to offer vaccinations seven days a week so that the vaccine is delivered within its short shelf-life and so patients receive it as soon as possible," it added.

Dr Richard Vautrey, chairman of the BMA's GP committee in England, said GPs and practice nurses have a "proven track record of mass immunisation campaigns" and were the right people to be leading the effort once a coronavirus vaccine becomes available.

"With a number of approval processes still to go, we are a long way from guaranteeing that vaccinations in local surgeries will begin in December - but practices, working together in their areas, will stand ready."

Older care home residents and care home staff are at the top of a preliminary priority list published by the government, followed by health workers.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has warned people not to rely on the vaccine "as a solution" to the pandemic.

"The biggest mistake we could make now would be to slacken our resolve at a critical moment," he said.

He said "if and when" the vaccine was approved for use, the UK "will be ready to use it".

Analysis box by Pallab Ghosh, science correspondent

The promising results announced on Monday do not mark the beginning of the end of the pandemic - but the start of a long and difficult journey to slowly get us back to a more normal life.

The safety of the Pfizer vaccine has still to be proved, before it gets regulatory approval. Then there are issues of who gets it and how best to use it.

This will depend on some of the scientific questions that remain: whether the vaccine is able to stop transmission rather than just prevent disease, how long immunity lasts and whether it works with older people.

The answers should emerge as the vaccine starts being rolled out. A limited number of people may get the Pfizer vaccine this year.

The UK should get 10 million doses by the end of the year, with a further 30 million doses already ordered.

Until then, observing the government's guidelines on social distancing and frequent handwashing are the only ways to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, England's chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said the findings demonstrated "the power of science against Covid", adding: "We must see the final safety and efficacy data, but it is very encouraging.

"It is essential we continue to suppress Covid but it is a reason for optimism for 2021."

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Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire is in line to become the next region to pilot mass coronavirus testing, the BBC has learned.

The first scheme began in Liverpool last week - with residents and people who work there getting their results within an hour.

The NHS has confirmed that its staff in England are to receive Covid-19 tests twice a week.

Prof Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, said he expected testing for asymptomatic NHS staff to be rolled out across the country by the end of next week.

Routine testing of NHS staff is already taking place in the areas hardest hit by the virus.

The government has also said it will send out about 600,000 rapid tests to local authorities this week to help detect asymptomatic cases in the wider population.

Local health leaders will be able to determine the allocation of the tests, which can deliver results within an hour, based on the needs of their communities,

The government reported a further 21,350 coronavirus cases in the UK on Monday, along with 194 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.