New Oxford Covid vaccine welcomed as a huge boost for Peterborough as MP believes city will be among first to benefit

Peterborough City Hospital was one of the first 60 vaccine sites in the country and it is understood that the new vaccine will be rolled out initially from those hubs to each of the priority categories in turn.

Peterborough MP Paul Bristow said after this morning’s (December 30) news that the vaccine, which has been described as a “game changer”, was given the green light by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA): “With a second vaccine approved, our NHS can now begin to ramp up the vaccination programme, meaning many more thousands of people across Peterborough and Cambridgeshire can be protected.

“I saw our NHS vaccine heroes at work yesterday (December 29) and know how hard they are working to make us all safe.

“The UK could have one of the most advanced vaccination programmes in the world and one of the first places in the country to benefit from this is Peterborough.

“This is fantastic news we all needed as this difficult year comes to an end. 2021 should be the year of hope when families can meet again and our economy can open up again fully.

“It will be the year our city begins to reach its potential.”

The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine – enough to vaccinate 50 million people.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said this morning (December 30): “The Government has today accepted the recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to authorise Oxford University/AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine for use.

“This follows rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA, which has concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.”

Data published in The Lancet medical journal in early December showed the vaccine was 62% effective in preventing Covid-19 among a group of 4,440 people given two standard doses of the vaccine when compared with 4,455 people given a placebo drug.

Of 1,367 people given a half first dose of the vaccine followed by a full second dose, there was 90% protection against Covid-19 when compared with a control group of 1,374 people.

The overall Lancet data, which was peer-reviewed, set out full results from clinical trials of more than 20,000 people.

Among the people given the placebo drug, 10 were admitted to hospital with coronavirus, including two with severe Covid which resulted in one death.

But among those receiving the vaccine, there were no hospital admissions or severe cases.

The half dose followed by a full dose regime came about as a result of an accidental dosing error.

However, the MHRA was made aware of what happened and clinical trials for the vaccine were allowed to continue.

The approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is a “game-changer” a member of the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag) has said.

Andrew Hayward, professor of infectious diseases epidemiology at University College London, told BBC Breakfast: “It’s exactly what we need right now.

“We’re facing an extraordinarily difficult situation with a step change in the transmissibility of the virus, which means we need a step change in our response.

“I think essentially what this has turned this into is a race between us and the virus, and we need to slow the virus down as much as we can whilst we get as many people vaccinated as possible.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: “It is truly fantastic news – and a triumph for British science – that the @UniofOxford/@AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use.

“We will now move to vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible.”

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine meant the rollout of the vaccination programme could be accelerated.

Mr Hancock said the speed of delivery would depend on the speed at which the vaccine can be manufactured.

“The rollout will start on January 4 and will really accelerate into the first few weeks of next year,” he told Sky News.

“The NHS stands ready to deploy at the sort of pace that is needed to help us get out of this pandemic by the spring.

“The NHS will deliver the vaccine into people’s arms as fast as it can be produced.”

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth tweeted: “Some good news. Now let’s go hell for leather to get jabs rolled out.

“We’ve seen how more virus circulating means opportunities for variants to emerge.

“This is now a race against time.

“We need vaccination ramped up, especially for NHS staff urgently.”

RELATED: Peterborough City Hospital trust praises the ‘tireless’ efforts of staff during Covid vaccine rollout