Coronavirus: Vaccine rollout 'marathon not a sprint'

The coronavirus vaccine is the "beginning of the end" of the epidemic in the UK, Prof Stephen Powis has said, as vaccinations begin on Tuesday.

But the NHS England medical director warned the distribution of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine would be a "marathon not a sprint". It will take "many months" to vaccinate everybody who needs it, he said.

Frontline health staff, those over 80, and care home workers will be first to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

In England, 50 hospitals have been initially chosen to serve as hubs for administering the vaccine. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland will also begin their vaccination programmes from hospitals on Tuesday.

Prof Powis was speaking outside Croydon University Hospital in south London, which became one of the first hospitals in the UK to take delivery of the vaccine on Sunday.

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Source: BBC News, 6 December 2020