Will UK tier system affect our vaccine supply?

We in Guernsey are of course dependent on both the quantity and the exact vaccine or vaccines which we will eventually receive from the UK.

Guernsey has not wasted any time and has already begun logistical planning for the vaccination of our population.

The UK government has issued a statement that each region of the ‘British family’ will receive the quantity of vaccine which is proportionate to their population. However, this might change if they continue their present policy of allocating categories Tier 1, 2 and 3 to regions according to their rate of Covid infections with the object of bringing the spread of the virus under control. In other words, priority may first be given to distributing the vaccine to those regions with the highest ‘R’ rates of infection – just as the stated intention is that the vaccine will be given first to those individuals at high risk because of age or their work in the front line.

A factor to be considered is which vaccine will be distributed to Guernsey.

The UK has placed an order for 100 million doses of the Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccine (£4 a dose) compared to seven million doses for the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine (£15 a dose)

and Moderna vaccines (£23-£28 a dose).

The UK has also placed orders, subject to positive trial results, for other vaccines such as CSK/Sanofi, Novavax and Valneva, which are further behind in development.

The obvious choice would be the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine but questions have been raised given their recent clarification report on trial results.

Because of an error in the trial conducted on volunteers in the UK, the participants (numbering 2,300 according to the Financial Times) were given only half a dose followed later by the full dose. To the researchers’ surprise, efficacy was recorded at 90%, which compared to only 62% efficacy for the 20,000 participants in the trial in Brazil. Furthermore, the UK participants were aged 55 or under. Because of the lower age group of this subsection and the relatively small number in the trial, there will need to be a new trial in a much larger group with a higher age spread which combines a half dose followed by a full dose.

This could cause a delay in receiving approval unless it is given only for a claimed efficacy rate of 62%.

WILLIAM B. MORRIS,

GY6 8ES.

Editor’s footnote: the Committee for Heath & Social Care responds:

Thank you for your letter giving the HSC opportunity to clarify some areas of the Covid-19 vaccination programme. At the time of writing, we have received confirmation that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has announced that the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is safe for roll out in the UK from the week commencing 7 December 2020.

The Committee for Health & Social Care, following advice from the Medicines Committee, and following consultation with Alderney, Sark and the Policy & Resources Committee, now need to consider whether it will designate the Pfizer vaccine, as approved, for use in the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

The Bailiwick’s allocation of vaccines will be proportionate to our population. The quantity provided is fixed and will not change depending on the situation in the UK.

For the same reason, the quantity allocated to Jersey and Guernsey will remain unaltered regardless of the number of active known cases of Covid-19.

The Bailiwick will not be able to choose which vaccine it receives and in what quantities. However, we can assure your reader that we are ready to accept the vaccine that we are offered via our UK supply chain and we have systems in place to ensure transport and storage requirements can be met.