London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 20, 2025

Covid-19: UK setting up vaccine centres ready for rollout

Covid-19: UK setting up vaccine centres ready for rollout

The NHS is setting up coronavirus vaccination centres across the UK in preparation for any jab being approved, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

People will be vaccinated at sites around the country, as well as in hospitals and by GPs in the community.

The government has also officially asked the medical regulator to assess the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Mr Hancock said if the regulator approved it, vaccination could start next month.

But the bulk of the vaccination rollout would be in the new year, he added.

It comes as another 20,252 confirmed Covid cases were announced by the government on Friday, as well as a further 511 deaths.

Speaking at the Downing Street briefing, Mr Hancock said: "The NHS is in the process of establishing vaccination centres across the country that can manage the logistical challenge of needing to store the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at -70C.

"In addition it is establishing vaccination hubs in hospitals for NHS staff.

"These two routes are likely to comprise the bulk of the campaign this side of the new year. Then there will be a community rollout involving GPs and pharmacists."

Vaccination centres could be set up in places like sports halls, and earlier this week it was confirmed that a sports arena in Derby had been earmarked to be used.

On the question of when people could get vaccinated, Mr Hancock said: "I know everyone wants to know about the timing and the speed of the rollout. That will depend on the speed at which the vaccines can be manufactured.

"We know that the manufacturing process for all vaccines is difficult and uncertain so I've asked the NHS to be ready to deploy at the speed at which the vaccine can be produced.

"If, and it still is an if, if the regulator approves a vaccine, we will be ready to start the vaccination next month with the bulk of the rollout in the new year. We're heading in the right direction but there is still a long way to go."

Mr Hancock also confirmed the government had formally asked the independent medical regulator - the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency - to assess the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

He said the UK government had been given the "confidence" to begin the process, after the vaccine-makers applied for approval in the US.

Three vaccines - Pfizer/BioNTech, Sputnik and Moderna - have already reported good early results from the final stages of testing, called phase-three trials.

The first breakthrough came from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which published data first and showed it protected 94% of adults over 65.

Another vaccine, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, has shown positive results at an earlier stage, phase two.

The UK government has ordered more doses of the Oxford vaccine than any other (100 million doses) - but has also ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and five million of the Moderna vaccine.



The NHS Confederation, which represents NHS bosses, said the vaccine offered "a glimmer of hope but it won't save the NHS this Christmas".

"When the national restrictions are lifted in two weeks' time, life cannot go back to normal and they will have to be replaced with measures that protect the NHS from becoming overwhelmed," it said.

Asked about Christmas and whether Covid restrictions could be relaxed, Mr Hancock said the government was still working to decide what should happen after England's lockdown ends on 2 December.

"It's still too early to tell, although we can see from the data out in the last couple of days, and also from the ONS survey out today, that this is clearly flattening," he said. "We're clearly near the peak of this second increase and the second wave."

NHS England's medical director Prof Stephen Powis also said it appeared the number of hospital patients with coronavirus had been "levelling off" in the last few days.

But he added: "That is just a few days' data and it's important not to read too much into it yet."

It comes as the government's group of scientific advisers said the R rate - the number of people on average that one infected person passes the virus onto - had dropped to between 1 and 1.1 for the UK as a whole.



Mr Hancock also urged people aged 50 and over to get a flu jab.

Thirty million people are being offered a flu jab in England's largest flu-immunisation scheme to date. People aged 50 to 64 will be eligible for the vaccine from 1 December.


Health Secretary Matt Hancock: "We will be ready to start vaccination next month"


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
×