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The first inquiries were sent in the past few days.

Brits who had volunteered to be available as volunteers during the pandemic were written to asking if they would like to volunteer as volunteers for the upcoming nationwide vaccination campaign.

We are looking for volunteers who can provide advice and signposts to patients in hospitals or vaccination centers, but also those who are willing to give injections.

It should start as soon as next Monday after the vaccine from Pfizer and Biontech received approval from the drug regulatory agency in Great Britain on Wednesday.

The national health service NHS has been preparing for this starting shot for weeks.

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"This is an unprecedented mass vaccination program," said Wei Shen Lim, professor of respiratory diseases at Nottingham University and chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, a group of experts advising the UK government.

The country has not seen anything like it for decades.

Lim on Wednesday made a final recommendation on the order in which the vaccine should be distributed.

First and foremost are residents of nursing homes and their carers.

They are considered particularly at risk, not only because of age, but also because of the rapid spread and the many deaths in facilities that plagued the UK in the first wave of Covid in the spring.

Central organization has many advantages

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The next group to be vaccinated is over 80-year-olds, as well as medical staff who have regular contact with patients.

Graded according to age, it continues in five-year steps.

Younger people who are considered to be particularly at risk because of a previous illness are also given preference.

However, when adhering to this staggering, flexibility is required, said Lim. Above all, it depends on the stability of the vaccine.

The Pfizer Biontech vaccine must be stored at extremely low temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius.

This should make vaccination difficult, especially for elderly people in nursing homes who cannot easily go to a vaccination center.

The Government of Wales has already warned that the use of this vaccine in elderly care is not possible.

Lim pointed out, however, that the vaccine remains effective for a shorter period of time at two to eight degrees Celsius.

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A spokesman for the Ministry of Health emphasized that the NHS is well prepared for the challenges.

The tax-financed state health system is extremely popular in the country, despite long waiting times for treatment and regular reports on crises in view of the increasingly tight financial resources.

Observers are convinced that its central organization should provide the NHS with many advantages in the mass vaccination program.

Three distribution mechanisms are currently planned.

General practices should primarily look after patients at higher risk, be it because of their age or other illnesses.

A total of around 17 million people in the country fall into this category.

Hundreds of hospitals are responsible for vaccinating their staff and a number of patients treated there.

In addition, large event rooms such as stadiums and large conference rooms are being converted into vaccination centers for the rest of the population.

In Bristol, the military has already started preparing the city's Ashton Gate stadium for its new use.

The famous racecourse in Cheltenham will also be used to administer the vaccine.

Up to 5000 people a day can be treated in vaccination centers

The so-called Nightingale hospitals, which were set up at the beginning of the pandemic to care for corona patients in a number of large cities, but have so far only had to be used little, are also being discussed as vaccination centers.

Up to 5000 people a day can be treated in these large centers.

Even if the infrastructure is already under construction: The temperature specifications for the vaccine transport remain a challenge, Lim admitted.

In the next few weeks, however, two more vaccines should receive approval, products from Moderna in the USA and the University of Oxford in cooperation with Astra Zeneca.

Both can be transported in conventional cold chains and are therefore considerably less complicated to use.

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A hasty action is not worthwhile if the effectiveness of the vaccine is in danger because of the temperature requirements, said Martin Marshall, chairman of the medical association Royal College of General Practitioners, the "Financial Times".

"We would risk wasting some (vaccine), but we cannot afford to waste."

The UK has signed a contract to deliver 40 million doses of Pfizer Biontech vaccine.

Since two syringes are required, that's enough for 20 million people.

In addition, the government has ordered five million doses of the Moderna and 100 million doses of the vaccine from Oxford.

The medical staff had to be increased by around 10,000 employees for the major campaign.

Former doctors and nurses are invited to register.

"This vaccine has been well tested"

The UK drug regulatory agency has given Biontech and Pfizer emergency approval for their corona vaccine.

WELT correspondent Stefanie Bolzen explains why this is faster in Great Britain than in the EU.

Source: WORLD

In addition to these paid jobs, around 30,000 volunteers will be deployed.

A third of them should be trained to administer the vaccination, the others support them as first aiders and with administrative tasks.

In the end, the success of the major campaign will not only depend on the preparations of the NHS and the right logistics.

How many people get vaccinated is crucial for success.

Great Britain obviously has good cards in this regard.

According to an October poll, 79 percent of Britons are willing to have a vaccination.

The country is ahead among western industrialized countries, along with Australia with the same willingness.

In Germany the proportion is 69 percent, in the USA 64 and France 54 percent.

Biontech explains the approval process

After the approval of the corona vaccine from Biontech and Pfizer, Great Britain wants to start the first vaccinations as soon as next week.

How things will continue and what that means for the EU and the USA, Biontech expresses itself here.

Source: WORLD