UK prepares to fast-track coronavirus vaccine and train army of health workers

The British Government is drawing up new rules to fast-track a coronavirus vaccine when one is found to be safe and effective.

A change to current laws could allow the UK to sidestep the European Medicines Agency and get a jab to patients faster without waiting for approval from the EU.

And the Government is also training up an army of medical workers to be able to give out the jabs in order to speed up the process.

This could include pharmacists, midwives, paramedics, physiotherapists and occupational therapists and the workforce is set to be trained by October.

The race to find a vaccine for Covid-19 is hurtling ahead with scientists around the world designing and trialling dozens of candidates in the hope that one will work.

One of the most promising has been developed in the UK by Oxford University and is already in large-scale human trials to test its effectiveness. 

When one is proven to work safely, officials will scramble to get it to as many people as possible to avoid another devastating wave of deaths like the one this spring. 

A jab is not expected to be found until 2021 but British officials are drawing up emergency plans now in case one is proven to work before Christmas, they said. 

Deputy chief medical officer for England, Dr Jonathan Van Tam, said today: ‘We are making progress in developing Covid-19 vaccines which we hope will be important in saving lives, protecting healthcare workers and returning to normal in future.

‘If we develop effective vaccines, it’s important we make them available to patients as quickly as possible but only once strict safety standards have been met.

‘The proposals consulted on today suggest ways to improve access and ensure as many people are protected from Covid-19 and flu as possible without sacrificing the absolute need to ensure that any vaccine used is both safe and effective.’

The new rules being drafted will not shortcut the path a vaccine must take before it is approved for human use, and rigorous clinical trials must still be completed.

It is intended, instead, to speed up the approval process by giving the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) the power to issue a ‘temporary authorisation’ without waiting for the jab to be fully licensed by Europe.

Current rules mean any new medicine for coronavirus must be licensed by the European Medicines Agency, while the UK remains in its Brexit transition period.

But a new rule – for which officials are holding a three-week consultation – would mean that if a trial finds a vaccine to work and be safe, the MHRA could approve it  and get it used in Britain before it’s licensed.

This will not cut short safety trials or any of the scientific work but will mean less paperwork has to be done before the jab can be used.  

Dr Christian Schneider, a director of standards in the MHRA, said: ‘Whilst the existing licensing system or a new UK one from next year, is the preferred and expected route to supply any vaccine, these new measures will strengthen the regulatory regime and our ability to protect public health.’

The rules are being drafted now in case a working vaccine is found before the end of the year. 

Drug manufacturers are so hopeful that their jabs will work that they are already manufacturing millions of them without knowing whether they will be used. 

As well as speeding up the process of getting one from labs to patients, the British Government is planning to speed up the vaccination programme.

It will do this by training huge numbers of staff to give out the vaccines so there can be a constant flow of jabs being administered.

More doctors and nurses will be given the relevant training and health workers in other parts of the NHS may also be trained up.

There are around 1.1million people working in the NHS and officials say ‘no options are off the table’ in who they could train up.