Stakeholder Vaccine FAQs, from the Department of Health and Social Care 5 February 2021
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Stakeholder Vaccine FAQs, from the Department of Health and Social Care
5 February 2021
Top messages
• An effective vaccine is the best way to protect people from coronavirus and will save
thousands of lives.
• Following extensive safety trials and authorisation by the independent medicines
regulator, the MHRA, effective COVID-19 vaccines are available in the UK for free.
• It is essential that everyone continues to stay at home if possible whether they have had
the vaccine or not to protect the NHS and save lives.
New update on rollout (08.02.2021)
People aged 70 and over who have not yet been vaccinated against COVID-19 and who would like
to be are being asked to contact the NHS to arrange a jab so that they can be vaccinated by the
middle of February.
The easiest way to arrange a vaccination is through the national booking service which can be
accessed at www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination but anyone unable to book online can call 119 free
of charge, anytime between 7am and 11pm seven days a week.
Anyone who received a letter in 2021 asking them to shield, should also receive an invitation
from their local family doctor as well as an invitation from the national booking service inviting
them for a jab.
People in priority groups who are given a vaccination appointment by both their local GP team
and the National Booking Service should cancel the one they do not want so the slot can be used
by someone else.
Health and social care workers, who are also among the top four priority groups for vaccination,
should speak to their employer about arranging their jab.
NHS England is supporting general practice with an extra £10 for every vaccination given to
someone who is housebound.
Frequently asked questions: 4 February 2021
1. What vaccines are available?
Effective vaccines are the best way to protect people from coronavirus and will save thousands
of lives. Over time, they will help us get back to normal.
Following extensive clinical trials and authorisation for use by the independent medicines
regulator, the MHRA, safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines are available in the UK for free.
The AstraZeneca (Oxford) vaccine and the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine are now available across the
UK. Other vaccines are expected to follow throughout 2021.
1
5 February 20212. Can people choose what vaccine they have? It has been suggested that vaccines could
be mixed and matched?
No. Any vaccines that are available will have been approved because they pass the
MHRA’s tests on safety and efficacy, so people should be assured that whatever vaccine
they get will be highly effective and protect them from coronavirus.
3. How many people have been vaccinated?
Vaccination numbers are published daily:
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare
4. Who can get the Covid-19 vaccination?
The NHS is currently offering the COVID-19 vaccine to people most at risk from
coronavirus, in line with the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and
Immunisation (JCVI).
Currently it's being given to:
• residents in a care home for older adults and their carers, all those 70 years of age and
over
• frontline health and social care workers people who are clinically extremely vulnerable to
COVID-19
The above groups are known as JCVI priority groups 1 to 4. The vaccine will soon be
offered to JCVI groups 5 to 9 - all those 50 years of age and over and people in at-risk
groups.
5. How will I know it’s my turn to get a vaccine?
The NHS will let you know when it's your turn to have the vaccine. Do not contact the
NHS for a vaccination before then. Once you have received your letter you can book your
vaccination appointment online, or if you cannot access the online booking service, you
can call 119.
• Sometimes the NHS will call you at short notice if a vaccination slot becomes available.
• You will need your ten-digit NHS number, it will be on the letter sent to you. You can also
find it on your prescriptions or through your GP online service.
• If you cannot go to one of the large vaccination centres, you can choose to have your
vaccination at your GP surgery when it’s available there or a pharmacy.
6. What do I need to bring with me to the vaccination centre?
If you are taking medication, please bring a list of these with you to the vaccination
centre. Do not bring the medicines themselves.
2
5 February 2021If you are taking a blood thinner called 'warfarin' you will also be going for regular blood
tests to monitor the thickness of your blood using a test called INR. The INR test result is
a number (for example 2.5). Please make sure you know your latest INR reading and when
that was last checked.
If you don't know this, you can get if from your GP surgery. If you are taking warfarin but
we don't know your INR reading it can sometimes mean your vaccination cannot go ahead.
The vaccination computers at the centre do not link back to your medical records so we
can't look up your result on the day.
7. What is government doing to stop vaccine fraud?
The vaccine is only available free from the NHS. At no point will a patient be asked to
pay.
Advice from Action Fraud:
• The NHS will never ask you for your bank account or card details.
• The NHS will never ask you for your PIN or banking password.
• The NHS will never arrive unannounced at your home to administer the vaccine.
• The NHS will never ask you to prove your identity by sending copies of personal
documents such as your passport, driving license, bills or pay slips.
8. What patient information is available to accommodate the different needs of patients
in accessible formats?
• To help NHS organisations and communications teams with rolling out a COVID-19 vaccine
campaign, there is a range of free print, digital and social campaign materials available
on PHE’s Campaign Resource Centre.
• Various versions of the leaflets and posters have been developed, with different call-to-
actions to be used depending on vaccine availability. Large print, braille and Easy read
versions and translated versions are also available for download. There will be BSL videos
for the ‘adults’, ‘what to expect’ and ‘pregnancy’ leaflets shortly.
You can also place orders for these resources via the health publications website
9. Are there any side effects?
Like all medicines, vaccines can cause side effects. Most of these are mild and short-
term, lasting no longer than a week, and not everyone gets them.
These may include:
• a sore arm where the needle went in
• feeling tired
• a headache
• feeling achy
• feeling or being sick
3
5 February 202110. Can I do what I want after I have been vaccinated?
It is essential that everyone continues to stay at home whether they have had the vaccine
or not. We need tens of millions of people to be vaccinated, evidence that COVID-19
cases are decreasing and data on transmission before we make a decision on how to
return towards normality. It's tough but really important for now.
This means it is important to:
• continue to follow social distancing guidance
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/social-distancing/what-you-need-to-do/
• Wear a face covering and remember hands, face, space
• Cut down on your interactions with other people. This is how Covid spreads
11. Is protection instant after I've been vaccinated?
Definitely not. Protection from any vaccine takes time to build up. In general, the older
you are the longer it takes. It will take at least two weeks in younger people and at least
three weeks in older people before you can expect to have a good antibody response.
Even then, you must return when called for your second dose. Vaccines offer important
protection to reduce risk but they do not make you invincible. No vaccine offers 100%
protection against any disease.
12. Can I catch Covid from the vaccines?
You cannot catch Covid from the vaccines. But it is possible to have caught Covid and not
realise you have the symptoms until after your vaccination appointment.
• If you have any of the symptoms of Covid, stay at home and arrange to have a test.
• If you need more information on symptoms visit: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-
COVID-19/symptoms/
13. How do we know the vaccines protect people from COVID-19?
All of the vaccine trials for Covid-19 vaccines have given half of the volunteers the
vaccine and half a dummy or substitute. The rates of Covid-19 in each group are then
monitored. The difference between those vaccinated and those unvaccinated can be used
to calculate percentage vaccine efficacy.
Therefore in the trials, vaccine efficacy reports how good a vaccine is at preventing
disease - counted as having symptoms and a positive test result.
The trials are not large enough to report how effective the vaccines are at reducing
hospitalisation and deaths. We will only know this after the vaccines have been rolled
out. However, a vaccine that is highly effective (as these are) is very likely to have a big
impact on hospitalisations and deaths.
4
5 February 2021The Pfizer / BioNTech and Astra Zeneca (Oxford) vaccines have been shown to provide a
high level of protection from symptomatic COVID-19. We do not yet know the impact of
the vaccine on transmission and so we are vaccinating those who are at highest risk of
serious illness and death.
As vaccination programmes roll out globally, our understanding of the effectiveness of
each vaccine on disease, serious disease, death and transmission will increase, and these
data will be used to develop advice on the next phase of the programme.
Every single vaccine authorised for use in the UK has been authorised by the MHRA and
the three parts of authorisation are a safety assessment, an effectiveness assessment and
a manufacturing quality assessment.
14. I have heard it can make people infertile – is this true?
Absolutely not. There is no evidence that the vaccine affects fertility. The theory that
immunity to the spike protein could lead to fertility problems is not supported by any
evidence. Most people who contract COVID-19 will develop antibody to the spike and
there is no evidence of fertility problems after Covid-19 disease.
15. Can pregnant women have the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines?
The latest advice, from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is
that the vaccine should be considered for pregnant women when their risk of exposure to
the virus infection is high and cannot be avoided, or if the woman has underlying
conditions that place her at a very high risk of serious complications of Covid-19.
Women should discuss the benefits and risks of having the vaccine with their healthcare
professional and reach a joint decision based on individual circumstances. Women who
are breastfeeding can also be given the vaccine.
16. Why are you changing the interval between the first and second dose?
One dose of either vaccine provides a high level of protection from COVID-19.
The decision to update the dosing interval is based on advice from the JCVI and UK Chief
Medical Officers.
Vaccines are in short supply and giving one dose initially means more people who are at
risk can be protected more quickly. This saves more lives overall than we could do by
giving two quick doses to half as many people.
Having studied evidence on both the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca (Oxford) vaccines
the JCVI advised that we should prioritise giving as many people in at-risk groups their
first dose, rather than providing two doses in a shorter time.
5
5 February 2021A statement about the dosing interval from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and
Immunisation (JCVI) is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prioritising-the-first-covid-19-vaccine-
dose-jcvi-statement
The available data show a high level of protection from the first dose with slightly greater
protection after the second. The second will also increase long term protection.
17. How were the vaccines developed so quickly?
The vaccines that are authorised have been through three stages of clinical trials and
have been tested on tens of thousands of people around the world.
The trial phases were organised to overlap, speeding up the overall time of vaccine
production, but without cutting any corners on trialling the vaccine and ensuring it meets
strict standards of safety and effectiveness.
Time has also been gained because:
Vaccine trial volunteers were recruited at the start of the process, so they were ready to
go once the vaccine was ready for trial
In the UK trials, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) made this their top
priority
Plans were made for the next phase of trials by the companies without having to wait for
investor decisions.
Companies made decisions to begin large scale production of vaccines which were still in
trials. So, if vaccines were found to be safe and effective, they would be ready to be
distributed.
The University of Oxford, created a video about 'How to make a vaccine in record time'
18. Are there animal products in the vaccine?
The MHRA has confirmed that the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech
COVID-19 vaccine do not contain any components of animal origin.
• Pfizer/BioNTech
A full list of ingredients for the qualitative and quantitative composition of the
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine can be found here.
• AstraZeneca/Oxford
A full list of ingredients for the qualitative and quantitative composition of the vaccine
can be found here.
6
5 February 202119. How do I know it has been widely tested on people like me?
Each of the vaccines are tested on tens of thousands of people across the world. They are
tested on both men and women, on people from different ethnic backgrounds, representative
of the UK population and of all ages between 18-84.
• Pfizer
9.6% of participants in the Phase 2/3 studies were Black, 4.6% were Asian, 2.4% were
multi-racial. This was considered sufficiently representative of the UK population for a
pre-authorisation study but further effectiveness studies in representative populations
are planned post-authorisation.
Pfizer/BioNTech trials took place in the US, Europe, Turkey, South Africa and South
America.
• AstraZeneca
In the clinical trial population used to calculate the efficacy, 16.4% of subjects reported
their race as non-white (4.1% Black, 4.4% Asian, 3.1% Mixed and 4.8% Other). In the larger
clinical trial population used to characterise the safety, 24.2% reported their race as non-
white (10.2% Black, 3.4% Asian, 4.1% Mixed and 6.5% Other).
AstraZeneca also included a trial in South Africa of 2,130 participants, and another in the
US including African American, Hispanic and Native American participants.
In the AstraZeneca trials, the non-white demographic in the UK trial was 8%.In the Brazil
trial it was 34.2% and in South Africa it was 87.5%.
20. What is the Vaccines Delivery Plan?
The UK COVID-19 Vaccines Delivery Plan sets out how the Government will work with the
NHS, devolved administrations, local councils and the Armed Forces to deliver the largest
vaccination programme in British history.
The plan is split into four main areas:
• Supply - including the development and manufacturing of vaccines, ensuring their safety
and effectiveness;
• Prioritisation - insight into the first two phases of deployment;
• Places - ensuring simple, fair and convenient access to vaccinations for the public,
regardless of where they live; and
• People - mobilising the workforce and providing information on vaccinations to local
communities.
Useful links and additional information
Government information resources
Daily data summary
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/?_ga=2.218839707.329771229.1610380715-
938063789.1606390656
Government vaccination programme information
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5 February 2021https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/covid-19-vaccination-programme Vaccination deployment plan https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-covid-19-vaccines-delivery-plan NHS England vaccination sites https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/hospital-hubs-and-local-vaccination-services/ Joint letter from four CMOs https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-the-profession-from-the-uk-chief- medical-officers-on-the-uk-covid-19-vaccination-programmes/letter-to-the-profession-from-the- uk-chief-medical-officers-regarding-the-uk-covid-19-vaccination-programmes Green book - Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination information for public health professionals https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-the-green-book-chapter-14a MHRA – latest monitoring data confirms safety of Vocid-19 vaccines https://www.gov.uk/government/news/latest-monitoring-data-confirms-safety-of-covid-19- vaccines Charities and different stakeholder groups have also provided content for their communities - a small selection listed here Age UK FAQs https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/coronavirus/coronavirus-guidance/coronavirus- vaccine/ British Society for immunology, how vaccines work https://www.immunology.org/coronavirus/connect-coronavirus-public-engagement- resources/types-vaccines-for-covid-19 British Islamic Medical Association on the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine https://britishima.org/pfizer-biontech-covid19-vaccine/ British Islamic Medical Association on the AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccine https://britishima.org/covid19-vaccine-az/ Cancer Research UK FAQs on website with infographic on how vaccines are developed and approved https://scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org/2021/01/07/covid-19-vaccine-and-cancer-latest- updates/ Care England – links and resources to support the independent care sector http://www.careengland.org.uk/covid-19/vaccine 8 5 February 2021
Local Government Association – links and resources https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/coronavirus-information-councils/covid-19-service- information/covid-19-vaccinations Mencap – easy read guide https://www.mencap.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020- 12/Vaccines%20ER%20Final%20Version%208-12-20%20%282%29.pdf Bristol University – Global experts urge everyone to talk about COVID-19 vaccines responsibly https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2021/january/covid-19-vaccine-communication-handbook.html National Institute for Health Research – Covid and me video series of short dramas of people’s experience in taking part in Covid research. https://www.bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk/covid-and-me/ Vaccine deployment plan which sets out supply, prioritisation, places, people and tracking our progress. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data /file/951284/UK_COVID-19_vaccines_delivery_plan.pdf 9 5 February 2021
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