HEALTH secretary Matt Hancock has said the NHS will be ready to get the new vaccine distributed from December if it is safety approved.
Speaking to MPs earlier, Mr Hancock said that yesterday’s new about the world’s first effective vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech was important but that there were “no guarantees”.
The companies say they will now apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of November, and certain limited groups of people in the UK may get the vaccine by the end of 2020. The Government says it will give GPs £150m to roll out the vaccine.
The Health Secretary has also announced that from Tuesday onwards, NHS staff will be routinely Covid tested twice a week.
Meanwhile, after a pilot project in Liverpool, mass testing schemes are set to take place in 67 other locations in England.
In other coronavirus related news, the Welsh government has said exams for 16 and 18 year olds will not take place in 2021 and there will be teacher assessments instead.