The NHS has today kickstarted the rollout of the new Oxford AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine with patients at Oxford University Hospital the very first to get the life-saving jab.

At 7.30 am dialysis patient Brian Pinker, who describes himself as Oxford born and bred, became the very first person to be vaccinated by the hospital’s chief nurse and in doing so chalking up another world first for the NHS and major milestone in the phased vaccination programme.

Brian, aged 82, a retired maintenance manager who has been having dialysis for kidney disease at the hospital for a number of years, was pleased to be getting protection against the virus giving him peace of mind as he continues to receive treatment and is now looking forward to celebrating his 48th wedding anniversary with wife Shirley in February.

He said: “I am so pleased to be getting the COVID vaccine today and really proud that it is one that was invented in Oxford. The nurses, doctors and staff today have all been brilliant and I can now really look forward to celebrating my 48th wedding anniversary with my wife Shirley later this year.”

Chief Nursing Officer of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sam Foster, who administered the first Oxford Vaccine this morning, said: “It was a real privilege to be able to deliver the first Oxford Vaccine at the Churchill Hospital here in Oxford, just a few hundred metres from where it was developed. We look forward to vaccinating many more patients and health and care staff with the Oxford vaccine in the coming weeks which will make a huge difference to people living in the communities we serve and the staff who care for them in our hospitals.”

Hundreds of new vaccination sites are due to come onstream this week, joining the 700 which are already in operation.

The first Oxford AstraZeneca vaccinations will be delivered at a small number of hospitals for the first few days for surveillance purposes, as is standard practice, before the bulk of supplies are send to hundreds of GP-led services later in the week.

Professor Stephen Powis, NHS medical director, said: “The NHS’ biggest vaccination programme in history is off to a strong start, thanks to the tremendous efforts of NHS staff who have already delivered more than one million jabs.

“Throughout the pandemic their response has been phenomenal from introducing world-leading treatments for coronavirus which have saved patients’ lives as well as delivering the very first COVID-19 vaccines outside of a trial in a landmark moment in history, and now rolling out the new Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, chalking up another world first that will protect thousands more over the coming weeks.”

Alongside Brian, music teacher and father-of-three Trevor Cowlett, aged 88, and Professor Andrew Pollard, a paediatrician working at OUH who also pioneered the Oxford jab, are among the first to be vaccinated today.

The new Oxford vaccine is easier to transport and store than the Pfizer jab, which has to be kept at minus 70 degrees until shortly before it is used, making it easier to deliver in care homes.

The NHS is giving GPs an extra £10 for every care home resident that they vaccinate by the end of the month.

Professor Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and Chief Investigator of the Oxford Vaccine Trial, added: “It was an incredibly proud moment for me to have received the actual vaccine that the University of Oxford and the AstraZeneca teams have worked so hard to make available to the UK and the world. As a paediatrician specialising in infections, I know how important it is that healthcare workers along with other priority groups are protected as soon as possible – a crucial role in defeating this terrible disease.”

Last week, regulators and the four UK chief medical officers announced that the gap between first and second doses of the Pfizer vaccine should be lengthened so that more people can be protected faster. Delivery of the Pfizer jab, the first vaccine to be approved, is therefore also now able to be accelerated.

The NHS has now vaccinated more people than anywhere else in Europe, including more than one in five people over the age of 80

Well done to all.

I agree with Baroness Betty Boothroyd.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SkyNews/s...63973683556353

Originally Posted by MICK/GILLY

I agree with Baroness Betty Boothroyd.
https://mobile.twitter.com/SkyNews/s...63973683556353

Except Betty Boothroyd was talking about the Pfizer vaccination.

This story is about the Oxford/Astra Zeneca Vaccine, which has only just gone on line.

My wife is involved with the vaccination programme and she’s confused by the way the advice is constantly changing on what has to be done and when.
Because science is constantly evolving over how best to use the vaccines, how the average person (including Ms Boothroyd)is supposed to keep up I’ve no idea. (However if the press were actually to take some responsibility and not twist things just to sell a story, the actual facts may be easier to understand to the lay person).

I think old Betty is far from the average person, sure she was talking about the first vaccine and how the manufacturer, government health officials and the paperwork you get given after the first shot says that you should have the second shot of vaccine NO LATER THAN 21 days after the first, and only a week later after that then you would be actually vaccinated and MAY be helped agains this virus. This amounts to no protection until a month after the first shot and not what the government are telling people as they are having people believe you have some level of protection after the first shot. These facts from the makers and testers of the vaccine as she says flies in the face of latest government plans to what she calls thin out the vaccine and give the first dose to many more and the second dose 90 days after the first, and that is not what the manufacturers and makers that did trials of this vaccine advise, she highlights that although science is changing the 21 days limit is what is recommended and by 90 days it will most likely be too late or the manufacturer and paperwork for those who had the first dose wouldn’t say no later than 21 days
About 6 days ago in the news I noticed the government saying well if you can’t get a second shot of the first vaccine you could have a shot of the Oxford vaccine instead, it’s not what they planned they said but it’s better than nothing, she also highlighted that other countries have been given the Oxford vaccine already, before Uk.
She was quoting their own literature, she is showing up the mess and how the government are making it up as they go along ( probably to meet roll out targets ) if you can’t see that I can’t help you, what she is saying is pretty easy to understand and nothing to do with any confusion caused by the press and she backs it up with their own literature that even a lay person ( that gets issued with this info after their first dose ) can understand .

Originally Posted by MICK/GILLY

She was quoting their own literature, she is showing up the mess and how the government are making it up as they go along ( probably to meet roll out targets ) if you can’t see that I can’t help you, what she is saying is pretty easy to understand and nothing to do with any confusion caused by the press and she backs it up with their own literature that even a lay person ( that gets issued with this info after their first dose ) can understand .

Sorry for any misunderstanding, I agree that Betty Boothroyd is far from the average person!

I feel you've misunderstood my post, to be fair reading back I can see why, so I'll try and rephrase the point I was trying to get across.

While Betty Boothroyd was quoting from the literature she was given and was right at the time she was given it, the information is constantly changing and by that, not just daily, but often hourly. (I have to see how frustrating this is from what my wife is going through, constantly having to reschedule things, organising meetings only to find what has been agreed now needs to change and so on).


This isn't about targets, it's not about government, it's about people trying to do the best they can, with the resources they have, while the picture is constantly changing.

My point about the press: What they did was to get a (rightly) well respected person in to voice their opinion, but picked a Labour supporter, knowing it would be seized upon to stir things up. I'd be equally sceptical had they of picked a former high ranking Conservative to say how everything is running perfectly.

This is a global pandemic being dealt with in a way never experienced before. The speed that scientists can share information means things are constantly evolving. This shouldn't be about political point scoring regardless who your loyalties lie with, this is way more serious!

Oops sorry about that I pressed in the wrong place and unwitting disliked your post and I didn’t mean to...
No, politics and media aside, this information and her assessment of it was current and on sky news 2 days ago just before 8pm lockdown announcement.
They say trust the scientists and politicians are not scientists but the folk that invented and did tests on the vaccine are and they say in their most recent advice and documentation endorsed by the government that the Baroness had hold of that there is a recommended time limit on the second shot ( 21 days had not suddenly become 90 ) and no immunity until a week after a second shot of vaccine and they use the phrase MAY have immunity/protection.
Now contrary to that the government suddenly ( now they have roll out targets that they are not meeting ) says 90 days is ok and you have some protection after the first shot yes science changes but the obvious doesn’t, that’s why she had the same answer from the presenter and her answer was all the current info and recommendations/guidelines were totally opposite to what gov were telling you and that’s why she came on the programme and was there arguing with current facts and documents to show.
So ask your wife today what it says in the paperwork that they give folk after the first shot, if Betty is right and it says must have second dose 21 days after and must be the same vaccine then .... I don’t know what more to tell you if you can’t see it. Go on ask her, maybe they have changed all the paperwork to say 90 days eh.

Originally Posted by MICK/GILLY

Oops sorry about that I pressed in the wrong place and unwitting disliked your post and I didn’t mean to...
No, politics and media aside, this information and her assessment of it was current and on sky news 2 days ago just before 8pm lockdown announcement.

So ask your wife today what it says in the paperwork that they give folk after the first shot, if Betty is right and it says must have second dose 21 days after and must be the same vaccine then .... I don’t know what more to tell you if you can’t see it. Go on ask her, maybe they have changed all the paperwork to say 90 days eh.

I did watch it and thought she came across fantastically well. I particularly liked the way she was NOT going to be allowed to be interrupted by the presenter!

I'll check with my wife when she gets home and try and get the latest information, As of yesterday, the advice was to go with what you're being told at the time of the injection by whoever's administering it, as the advice is subject to change.

From what I understand they give you an information sheet after or before the 1st shot so that you have a hard copy of facts and recommendations from the scientists that made and tested the vaccine regarding doses and days between them to refer back to should you want to and help make an appointment in 3 weeks time . I think it’s a bit poor for those that have had the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine thinking they were going to get the second shot 21 days later and were told as to why the developers and testers recommended this plan only to be told it’s changed to 90 days by the government and it doesn’t take a lot to work out that they are trying to roll a first shot out to more people quicker to hit goalposts that are ever moving at the expense of the effectiveness if at all of the vaccine according to actual scientists .
Now if the Oxford vaccine requires 90 days between shots and that’s what the scientists and testers say then fair enough and that is the only chance of a breakdown in communication that I can imagine regarding this however unlikely it is .
Hopefully your wife will know what they are telling them this morning or if it was any different this afternoon .

Originally Posted by MICK/GILLY

Hopefully your wife will know what they are telling them this morning or if it was any different this afternoon .

The current (as of about 10 minutes ago) recommendations are that the second dose is given at 12 weeks. As of this morning, it was with in 12 weeks and the advice was to get the sec and dose at 10 weeks, but this changed as the day went on.

I didn't ask her take on whether she thinks it's to do with Government figures, as after a 14 hour day, with more the same tomorrow it was quite the time.

You may feel that it's a 'little poor' that people are being asked to change what they were initially told, so if you'd like to go to the Hospital and offer this little gem to those who are on the front line, then I'm sure they can put you straight and show you first hand the frustrations of dealing with a constantly changing set of circumstances.

Mark Twain phrased it well "If you don't read a newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read a newspaper you're ill informed"

Yea I think the inventors and scientists say 21 days as Betty says and the current government guidelines have changed against what the manufacturers and testers of the vaccine advise to 90 days and it’s dawned on you . If the makers and testers have suddenly changed their minds then fair enough but I don’t think that’s the case and you know it’s not after the facts given by Betty and that’s what Bettys point was and what her evidence confirmed. I won’t be going off to the hospital preaching how to do their job thanks I might end up there soon enough and I think those on the frontline are dedicated and brave and they will be wise enough to know the answer to this/onto this already. You may have gathered that I take the whole situation seriously and can’t be doing with anything but bare facts and I would love to know really was it the government or the scientists that invented and tested the vaccine that changed it from 21 days to 90 and why.
I don’t think Betty was deliberately out to misinform people or put up to this by the media or to gain political points, I think that she thinks that she is onto something that may give people a dangerous false sense of security regarding immunisation and is duty bound to highlight it. I hope she is wrong and all goes well but she has a point and I thought I would mention it .

Originally Posted by MICK/GILLY

Yea I think the inventors and scientists say 21 days as Betty says and the current government guidelines have changed against what the manufacturers and testers of the vaccine advise to 90 days and it’s dawned on you . If the makers and testers have suddenly changed their minds then fair enough but I don’t think that’s the case and you know it’s not after the facts given by Betty and that’s what Bettys point was and what her evidence confirmed. I won’t be going off to the hospital preaching how to do their job thanks I might end up there soon enough and I think those on the frontline are dedicated and brave and they will be wise enough to know the answer to this/onto this already. You may have gathered that I take the whole situation seriously and can’t be doing with anything but bare facts and I would love to know really was it the government or the scientists that invented and tested the vaccine that changed it from 21 days to 90 and why.
I don’t think Betty was deliberately out to misinform people or put up to this by the media or to gain political points, I think that she thinks that she is onto something that may give people a dangerous false sense of security regarding immunisation and is duty bound to highlight it. I hope she is wrong and all goes well but she has a point and I thought I would mention it .

I probably went off a bit last night in relation to going to help out. if it's caused offence in anyway, I apologise.

Betty Boothroyd takes no prisoners! She's put out what she was told at the time. If there were more out there who tell it straight rather than the usual politician approach of blather on without answering any questions, then people would be in a better position to understand that this is a constantly changing situation.

Originally Posted by Sap33

I probably went off a bit last night in relation to going to help out. if it's caused offence in anyway, I apologise.

Betty Boothroyd takes no prisoners! She's put out what she was told at the time. If there were more out there who tell it straight rather than the usual politician approach of blather on without answering any questions, then people would be in a better position to understand that this is a constantly changing situation.

Don’t worry nobody gets offended on Qlocal, Betty has the same up to date facts as the BMJ, the lancet and the scientists that made it and tested it for both companies that don’t agree either so I am certain there is something in this, I understand why it was made so quick I’ve got past that and I do believe the government mean well and are doing their best with what they have do deal with but if they are going to tell us what we know to be incorrect then they will get away with it with the old, vulnerable and frightened or easily led.
I think doctors and nurses are not daft and they know full well they must take part in this make it up as you go along bully the public into it government stance or there jobs will be at risk. Why bother trialing a vaccine if you are just going to ignore the results, makers and scientists involved and then spread your own disinformation then call anyone that scrutinises and highlights the real facts a conspiracy nut.
Betty knew she was onto something she knew she wouldn’t get much airtime and she knew she would be faced with the same old rhetoric and that’s what happened and that’s why she wouldn’t be silenced or let the presenter waste airtime before she got her very simple to understand most valid point across. All her info was current as it still is today, nothing to do with any sudden change scientifically only politically and dangerous .
I won’t go on about it anymore people can read and look for themselves, I just wish the scientists and government one day agree but for now they are not and in a dangerous way. It’s all a bit obvious really anyway take it or leave it, the facts Or the vaccine or the real scientists advice or the risk thinking you are immune or none or all.