Batches of the world’s first coronavirus vaccine are arriving at dozens of UK hospitals as medics prepare to administer the first doses to patients.
With the world watching the launch of the immunisation programme, early images from south London show staff “unloading doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab from boxes at Croydon University Hospital before placing them in freezers on the site, Sky News reports.
UK citizens who get the new Coronavirus vaccine will be handed detailed ID cards proving they’ve had the drug.
The Covid-19 passport, which looks like a credit card will be given to patients once they have received the first of two rounds of Pfizer’s record breaking covid-19 vaccine.
The first of 50 UK hubs received the medicine on Sunday, December 6, and acording to the NHS, information on the ID cards will include the type of vaccine, its batch number and the date it was given.
The ID card will also have a bold message reminding patients of when their crucial second dose is due.
All these details including the patient’s personal information, will also be registered on an NHS database.
Croydon University Hospital in south London will make history as the first place to administer the Pfizer vaccine on Monday.
The vaccine has to be stored carefully at below-freezing temperatures.
The vaccination will start with the most vulnerable before other members of the public will rceive their shot.
NHS medical director Stephen Powis said it feels like “the beginning of the end” but warned, “the largest scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history” will be a “marathon, not a sprint”.
The UK is expecting to receive up to four million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine by the end of the month.
The country has secured 40million doses enough for 20million people .
