Queen the first in line for coronavirus vaccine rollout

The Queen will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine within weeks, as the biggest immunisation program in British history begins this week.

A pharmacy technician takes delivery of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccinations at Croydon University Hospital in south London. Picture: AFP

The Queen will receive the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine within weeks, as the biggest immunisation program in British history begins this week.

The monarch, 94, and her 99-year-old husband, Prince Philip, are in line to get the jab early in the rollout, which gets under way on Tuesday, due to their age and will not receive preferential treatment, several newspapers have reported.

Britain’s most senior royals will “let it be known” they have been given the inoculations “as a powerful counter to the anti-vaccination movement,” The Sunday Times said.

The Mail on Sunday added they hope “to encourage more people to take up the vital jab”.

The Queen has spent much of the pandemic in self-isolation in Windsor because of her age, and will this year forego her traditional family Christmas at her Sandringham estate in eastern England with other royals.

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman declined to comment on the vaccination reports, noting “medical decisions are taken personally”.

Britain last week became the first country in the world to ­approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and health officials have ­already drawn up criteria based on age and vulnerability to decide who will receive it first.

Britain has pre-ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and is set to receive an ­initial batch of 800,000 to kickstart Tuesday’s rollout.

Elderly care-home residents and their carers will be the first in line, followed by those aged 80 and over and frontline health and care staff.

Other elderly people and the clinically extremely vulnerable will be next, with the rest of the population then prioritised by age.

The first doses were transported to Britain last week from a Pfizer plant in Belgium and began to arrive at dozens of “hospital hubs” nationwide on Sunday.

The effort faces significant ­obstacles because this vaccine must be stored at -70C. However, it can be kept for up to five days at 2C to 8C.

“Despite the huge complexities, hospitals will kickstart the first phase of the largest-scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history from Tuesday,” Stephen Powis, national medical director of the state-run National Health ­Service (NHS), said.

“Hardworking staff will once again rise to the challenge to protect the most vulnerable people from this awful disease,” he added, noting the NHS had “a strong ­record” in vaccine delivery.

British regulators were forced to defend their world-first ­approval, insisting it met all safety standards, after US and European officials queried the rapid process.

The Sunday Mirror reported a string of high-profile figures in Britain had committed publicly to getting the vaccine in a bid to boost take-up.

They include Monty Python star Michael Palin, 77, 69-year-old Bob Geldof and rocker Ronnie Wood, 73, the tabloid said.

“I will absolutely and immediately take it as soon as humanly possible,” Geldof said.

Meanwhile, plans are reportedly being stepped up to ensure any complications arising from the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31 do not hit the rollout.

The Observer said ministers have drawn up contingency plans to fly millions of doses into Britain on military aircraft in the event of Brexit-related disruption at UK ports.

“We will do this if necessary,” a health department representative said.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation warned that vaccines were no magic bullet for the coronavirus crisis, as Russia also started vaccinating its high-risk workers.

The WHO cautioned against what it said was an erroneous ­belief that the pandemic would end soon with vaccines on the horizon.

“Vaccines do not equal zero COVID,” said WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan, adding that not everyone would be able to receive it early next year.

“Vaccination will add a major, major, powerful tool to the tool kit that we have. But by themselves, they will not do the job.”

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also cautioned against the “growing perception that the pandemic is over” with the virus still spreading fast, putting enormous pressure on hospitals and health workers.

Health officials in Moscow said they had opened 70 coronavirus vaccine centres in the Russian capital that would initially offer jabs for health, education and ­social workers.

The WHO says 51 candidate vaccines are being tested on ­humans, with 13 reaching final-stage mass testing.

AFP