Pressure is mounting on Number 10 to start dishing out Covid vaccines 24/7 after the Army said it was ‘ready to do more’ and Nicola Sturgeon hinted Scotland could begin administering jabs around the clock.
Boris Johnson is facing a ‘race against time’ to get 13million vaccines in arms by mid-February and deliver on his promise of finally putting an end to the most draconian lockdown curbs.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told the Commons today that military personnel can ‘do more to assist’, as he suggested that the hold-up was due to a lack of stock and problems in the supply chain.
He added: ‘I could deploy all 100,000 soldiers tomorrow ready to vaccinate but if the stock isn’t there then we’ll have people not… we could employ them better off.
‘We are very, very clear that we can do more to assist, the Prime Minister knows that and the Prime Minister has indicated that we will be called on as the NHS requires it.’
Meanwhile, Ms Sturgeon said Scotland would consider dispensing vaccines day and night if it helped to speed up the roll-out, but she conceded that supplies were still ‘relatively limited’.
Asked if Scotland could run vaccination clinics around the clock, the First Minister said: ‘Once we get into the general population, yes, if that is going to help us get through them faster then we will look at that.’
No10 came under fire last night there was ‘no clamour’ for vaccination appointments beyond 8pm – despite the tactic being one of the secrets to Israel’s successful roll-out, which has earned international praise.
Nicola Sturgeon once again beat Mr Johnson to the punch by announcing Scotland was drawing up plans to dispense vaccines day and night, but she conceded that supplies were still ‘relatively limited’. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the Army can ‘do more to assist’
Members of the public arrive to receive their injection of a Covid-19 vaccine at the NHS vaccine centre that has been set up at the Centre for Life in Times Square, Newcastle
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner today piled more pressure on Downing Street to make the vaccination scheme operate round-the-clock.
She said: ‘The British people have sacrificed so much, now the Government must deliver for the British people.
‘The Prime Minister needs to use this lockdown to develop a round-the-clock vaccine programme, 24-hours a day, 7 days-a-week.’
The aim is for every Brit over the age of 50 to be offered a Covid jab by the end of April.
But doubts have been raised about the target with numbers standing at around 2.8million as of yesterday, and there are also calls for frontline workers such as teachers and police officers to be pushed up the priority list.
Ms Sturgeon was asked about implementing a 24-hour vaccination programme today as she confirmed that by Monday a total of 175,942 had received their first dose of vaccine.
She said: ‘We will look at anything and everything that allows us to get this vaccination programme done as quickly as possible’.
Ms Sturgeon said supplies of the vaccine were still ‘relatively limited’, and that with the focus currently on getting jabs to care home residents and those aged over 80, these groups did ‘not lend themselves to out-of-hours vaccination’.
Responding to John Healey, the Defence Secretary told the Commons: ‘We are of course, as he knows, incredibly keen and eager to offer whatever assistance we can.’
Mr Wallace added: ‘And of course, all members of the armed forces personnel are able to help the Government in its resilience and its defence – that is obviously the purpose of their job.’
On vaccinations, he continued: ‘Of course, I could deploy all 100,000 soldiers tomorrow ready to vaccinate but if the stock isn’t there then we’ll have people not… we could employ them better off.
‘So we are very, very keen in the Government, the Prime Minister is determined, to make sure that we match both the pace of stock delivery but also the pace of delivery into people’s arms – the jabbing.
Desperate shift workers and teachers have come forward to say they would happily come day or night to get the coronavirus vaccine after Boris Johnson insisted there is no ‘clamour’ for appointments after 8pm
An aerial drone shows Tennis and Football Centre at the Etihad campus in Manchester, which is being used as a mass Covid vaccination centre
Dozens of elderly people queue outside Hornchurch library in the London Borough of Havering for their Covid-19 vaccine
Minister have promised o dish out 2million jabs a week by the end of January through 2,700 centres dotted across the country. The map shows the sites that are currently up and running, including seven mass centres (green), more than 100 hospitals (blue), as well as GP practices and pharmacies (purple)
‘And we are very, very clear that we can do more to assist, the Prime Minister knows that and the Prime Minister has indicated that we will be called on as the NHS requires it.’
It came after desperate shift workers and teachers came forward today to say they would happily come day or night to get the coronavirus vaccine.
Upset workers took to social media to blast the Prime Minister’s claim there was ‘no clamour’ for nighttime jabs.
One wrote: ‘I work shifts. I’m awake when most of the country is asleep. So, happy to have my vaccine anytime.’
Another user, a teacher, said: ‘If this would speed things up and I’d not be taking a vaccine from someone more vulnerable I’d happily go anytime of day or night.
‘I’m a 60-year-old teacher working in school and scared for myself and my older vulnerable husband. Of course I’d go!’
Another Twitter user said: ‘I’d clamour at anytime of night! As a teacher I’m still in school during the day looking after key worker children so would love a vaccine and after 8pm would be perfect!
‘I’m pretty sure the rest of staff would agree. Sign us up!’
And another wrote: ‘They are doing this in New York and my teacher friends who are the same age as me (35) got their vaccine today. I’m a teacher also and absolutely no sign of a vaccine for me yet.
‘I would take any vaccine at anytime to get back into the classroom!’
Tory MPs are urging ministers to ‘look carefully’ at whether the hours can be extended while some have said there is ‘no excuse why it shouldn’t be 24/7’.
Another Twitter user wrote: ‘I work shifts so 9-5 time isn’t good for me, I would have the vaccine anytime.’
But while Health Secretary Matt Hancock said last night that the NHS will would do ‘whatever it takes’, he played down the prospect of a round-the clock operation, saying people will prefer to get jabs in the day.
And in the Commons, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said it will not happen in the first phase, where the four most vulnerable groups are being targeted, because staff would end up ‘standing around waiting’.
‘If we were to go to a 24-hour regime, it would be much harder to target the vaccine at those four cohorts,’ he said.
‘Obviously, when we have limited vaccine volume, we do not want staff standing around waiting for people in centres that are open 24 hours.
‘Also, many of those people are over 80, and we are going into care homes to vaccinate the residents of those homes.
‘The decision to go from 8am to 8pm was made because we want to ensure that there is an even spread and very close targeting.’
Former minister Steve Baker, a leader of the lockdown-sceptic CRG group of Tory MPs, told MailOnline the Government must ‘look carefully’ at extending the hours.
‘The sooner the vulnerable are vaccinated, the sooner we can end these destructive cycles of lockdowns and restrictions,’ he said.
‘So the Government should look closely at all the practical problems of 24/7 operation and press forward with it if it would help meet necessary goals.’
Tory MP Henry Smith said the vaccine rollout seemed to be going well so far, adding: ‘There is no excuse why it shouldn’t be 24/7. This is a national emergency and every hour lost is damaging to our economy and our future and our finances and our health.
‘We cannot lose a moment. I steer away from making international comparisons… but the fact that Israel has been able to vaccinate most of the population – it could be done faster.’
Another Tory MP suggested to MailOnline that the Government should soon look at extending opening hours to 6am and 10pm to increase the daily number of jabs.
But they said ‘supply isn’t coming from the manufacturers in the quantities needed yet’ to move to extended opening hours.
At a Downing Street briefing last night, Mr Hancock was asked about comments from the Prime Minister’s spokesman that there was not a ‘clamour’ for a 24/7 vaccination model.
He said: ‘We’ll do this if it’s needed, absolutely we will do whatever it takes to get this vaccine rolled out as fast as possible.
‘The thing is that if both the person doing the vaccination and the person being vaccinated would both prefer for that to happen in the middle of the day, rather than the middle of the night, then that’s probably when we should do it.’
He said there would be some groups where a 24/7 model may be the best approach but added: ‘Our attitude on the vaccine rollout is whatever it takes to do this as fast and safely possible.’
NHS England’s Professor Stephen Powis said that working through the day was the ‘most efficient’ use of staff and volunteers.
Professor Powis added: ‘I’m sure for the vast majority of people they would prefer to have their vaccine during the day.
‘And the best use of our staff and volunteers… working through the day is the most efficient way of delivering the most vaccine.’