Forex Trading For Beginners 2021: Covid: Zahawi appointed as vaccine rollout minister

Deployment of the Covid vaccine will be led by Business Minister Nadhim Zahawi, Number 10 has announced.

Mr Zahawi, MP for Stratford-on-Avon, was appointed by the prime minister to oversee distribution of the vaccine until at least next summer.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was "delighted",

adding in a tweet there was "an enormous task ahead".

Mr Zahawi's primary focus will be on delivering the vaccine, with most areas of his business portfolio put aside.

In a tweet, he welcomed his new post but said the rollout would be a "big responsibility and a big operational challenge".

He added that he was "absolutely committed to making sure we can roll out vaccines quickly - saving lives and livelihoods and helping us #buildbackbetter".

Currently, the UK government has placed orders for 100 million doses of the Oxford University/Astra Zeneca vaccine, 40 million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech and five million doses from US firm Moderna.

Doctor administering injection to young woman

Rolling out the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine may pose the greatest challenge as it needs to be stored at minus 70C, raising potential difficulties with transport and storage.

Mr Zahawi's appointment follows calls from Labour for the government to appoint a vaccine minister, who would provide accountability and avoid repeating mistakes made over PPE procurement and NHS Test and Trace.

Shadow health secretary John Ashworth said: "Only days ago Labour called for a vaccines' minister to oversee the huge logistical challenge of widespread vaccination.

"We now need a mass public health campaign urging uptake of the vaccine, alongside ensuring the resources are in place for GPs and other health professionals to rapidly roll this out as soon as possible."