Melton site gets first delivery of Oxford vaccine

Around 3,000 people were given the Pfizer-BioNTech jab at the Melton Sports Village site in the first three weeks of it being open.

Some residents have voiced concerns that the centre was not giving vaccinations at the beginning of this week and that the government roll-out was too slow.

Melton MP Alicia Kearns told the Melton Times this week that deliveries of the Pfizer vaccine were limited to batches of 975 to conserve supplies because it needed to be stored at very cold temperatures and had to be used within five days.

The Oxford vaccine can be stored at room temperature and the government has pre-ordered vastly more of it than the Pfizer version so it is anticipated that more will be now be available and supplies can soon be ordered on demand for the Melton centre.

Mrs Kearns confirmed this morning that a delivery of the Oxford vaccine was being made today at the town site.

She said: “This week I expect thousands of vaccinations to take place across Rutland and Melton given both Oakham and Melton vaccination centres will have both the Pfizer and Oxford & AstraZeneca vaccines.

“With the Oxford & AstraZeneca vaccine now available the NHS will be able to request more regular deliveries, and we will gradually see an increase in vaccinations each week.

“I recognise people are understandably anxious, but please wait to be contacted by the NHS.”

The delivery of vaccinations across Leicestershire was discussed at a media briefing this morning.

Prof Aruna Garcea, a GP representing the NHS clinical commissioning groups, said vaccination teams were responding immediately when vaccines were supplied but that this was proving ‘irregular’ when only the Pfizer jab was available.

She said: “At the moment our giving out the vaccine is dictated by the deliveries of it and this is irregular at present.

“We are hoping that the second vaccine being made available will lead to us receiving more consistent deliveries.

“The centres tend to be informed about deliveries of vaccine only a few days before.

“It has not been consistent and, for example, some vaccination centres have been told to expect a double delivery next week.”

Prof Garcea stressed the importance of ‘everyone in the community’ continuing to do their bit to defeat coronavirus.

She added: “The vaccination programme is a huge leap forward in tackling the terrible impact of Covid-19 but it will take time to have an effect.

“We must continue to stay safe and protect each other by following the public health advice.

“We will do all we can to keep you well in the meantime.”

Meanwhile it has been announced today that a third Covid vaccine has been approved for use in the UK - the Moderna version.

It was authorised following months of rigorous clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people and an extensive analysis of the vaccine’s safety, quality and effectiveness.

This vaccine is 94 per cent effective in preventing disease, including in the elderly, and the government was one of the first to sign an agreement with the company to supply the vaccine.

The UK has bought an additional 10 million doses of the Moderna vaccine on top of its previous order of seven million, taking the total to 17 million.

As agreed when the UK originally pre-ordered the vaccine, supplies will begin to be delivered to the UK from Spring once Moderna expands its production capability.

Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, said: “This is further great news and another weapon in our arsenal to tame this awful disease.

“We have already vaccinated nearly 1.5 million people across the UK and Moderna’s vaccine will allow us to accelerate our vaccination programme even further once doses become available from the spring.

“While we immunise those most at risk from Covid, I urge everyone to continue following the rules to keep cases low to protect our loved ones.”