'Massive' vaccination plan for Birmingham before Christmas involving hundreds of thousands of people

A vaccine for Covid-19 could be available in Birmingham before Christmas, it has been revealed – with plans for a ‘massive’ immunisation exercise involving hundreds of thousands of people.

Speaking today at a city council Covid engagement board Paul Jennings, Chief Executive of Birmingham and Solihull CCG, said that a plan for vaccinations was currently being prepared.

800,000 people would be prioritised in any roll out, with over 65s deemed ‘vulnerable’, 50-64 year olds with a pre-existing health condition and all people from a BME background due to be first in line. It was also revealed that any vaccine is expected to be a two-stage process, with people expected to revisit their GP for their second jab around four weeks after the first.

The Oxford Covid vaccine was recently paused after a subject became ill, putting hopes of a quick solution on ice.

However Mr Jennings said there’s still ‘some hope’ that the vaccine will be available before Christmas, revealing that planning around the roll-out is already ongoing.

“We’re beginning the planning process for immunisation,” he said.

“It will be a fairly massive exercise – I understand the target groups will be the over 65s and vulnerable, the 50-64s who have some other feature than their age, and anyone of a BME background over the age of 18, so that’s a pretty massive population for us to be thinking about.