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Vaccine supply is holding back jabs programme, says Matt Hancock

Health secretary says ‘getting vaccine out’ not the problem, as GPs reportedly pause inoculations
The UK coronavirus vaccine rollout is constrained by limited supply of the vaccines, but the government is on track to vaccinate the top four priority groups by 15 February, Matt Hancock has said.
The health secretary’s comments came amid reports of GP surgeries in some areas having to pause inoculations because supplies were being diverted to areas that still have higher risk groups.
“Supply of the vaccine is the rate-limiting factor and we have to make sure that the vaccine is distributed to everybody, in the first instance over the age of 80 and then over the age of 70, by 15 February, so we’re on track,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Asked whether the problem was that there was not the vaccine to give to those GPs, he replied: “Correct. As I’ve said all the way along in this vaccine programme, the rate-limiting step on the rollout is the supply of the vaccine itself. We are now managing to get that supply more than we have done before, and it will increase over the next few weeks.He added: “We have enough in the supply chain coming through to be able to deliver against that target.”
Hancock told ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB): “If I had more supply we would go faster. So the constraint is supply, but that’s not the supply coming slower than the schedule. It’s coming on schedule and then we get it out the door.
“The good news is we are managing to get it out into arms as quickly as the two companies are delivering to us.”
About 2.3 million people had already received the vaccine, he said.
The next few days were critical in judging if the national lockdown was working, Hancock said. With people typically being hospitalised two weeks after infection, any levelling off in the coming days would indicate it was.
He also said he hoped the UK had hit the peak of this wave, but it was not certain.
He also gave no indications about when current lockdown restrictions might end. It was “impossible to know” and they would last as “long as they are necessary”, he told Sky News.
On concerns over whether the 12-week delay between the first and second vaccinations could affect efficacy, Hancock said it was an important question and the government had looked into it in “great detail”. “It’s only because you get that protection two to three weeks after your first jab that we can make this decision,” he said.
“We know from the trials that from around 12 days after the first jab you start to get that protection and the protection from catching the disease is 89% after the first two weeks, and that compares to 95% once you have the two jabs. But crucially, the protection against having serious disease, being hospitalised or dying is even higher than that.” It was an “absolute slam dunk in terms of saving lives,” he told GMB.
Teachers, police officers and shop workers had a good case for being next in line for vaccinations after elderly people, the most vulnerable and health workers, Hancock agreed, but a final decision had not yet been made.
Confirming the Guardian report that the NHS is considering plans to move some patients into hotels to ease pressure on hospitals, he told Sky News the government was looking at different ways to relieve pressure on the NHS.
“We would only ever do that if it was clinically the right thing for somebody. In some cases, people need sit-down care, they don’t actually need to be in hospital beds.
“It isn’t a concrete proposal by any means but it is something that we look at as we look at all contingencies.”
source: Caroline Davies
Levant
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BENEFIT Sponsors BuildHer...
- April 23, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, has sponsored the BuildHer CityHack 2025 Hackathon, a two-day event spearheaded by the College of Engineering and Technology at the Royal University for Women (RUW).
Aimed at secondary school students, the event brought together a distinguished group of academic professionals and technology experts to mentor and inspire young participants.
More than 100 high school students from across the Kingdom of Bahrain took part in the hackathon, which featured an intensive programme of training workshops and hands-on sessions. These activities were tailored to enhance participants’ critical thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and team-building capabilities, while also encouraging the development of practical and sustainable solutions to contemporary challenges using modern technological tools.
BENEFIT’s Chief Executive Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi, commented: “Our support for this educational hackathon reflects our long-term strategic vision to nurture the talents of emerging national youth and empower the next generation of accomplished female leaders in technology. By fostering creativity and innovation, we aim to contribute meaningfully to Bahrain’s comprehensive development goals and align with the aspirations outlined in the Kingdom’s Vision 2030—an ambition in which BENEFIT plays a central role.”
Professor Riyadh Yousif Hamzah, President of the Royal University for Women, commented: “This initiative reflects our commitment to advancing women in STEM fields. We're cultivating a generation of creative, solution-driven female leaders who will drive national development. Our partnership with BENEFIT exemplifies the powerful synergy between academia and private sector in supporting educational innovation.”
Hanan Abdulla Hasan, Senior Manager, PR & Communication at BENEFIT, said: “We are honoured to collaborate with RUW in supporting this remarkable technology-focused event. It highlights our commitment to social responsibility, and our ongoing efforts to enhance the digital and innovation capabilities of young Bahraini women and foster their ability to harness technological tools in the service of a smarter, more sustainable future.”
For his part, Dr. Humam ElAgha, Acting Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University, said: “BuildHer CityHack 2025 embodies our hands-on approach to education. By tackling real-world problems through creative thinking and sustainable solutions, we're preparing women to thrive in the knowledge economy – a cornerstone of the University's vision.”
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