Covid-19 vaccine batch arrives UK

On Thursday the UK became the first country in the world to receive the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine and the consignment is being distributed around the country in protected refrigerators.

Roll-out of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is due to start next week, with five million people expected to receive the jab by the end of the year.

But when will the world start to look different as a result? What will we notice first about the life-changing rollout of a vaccine again a disease that has itself changed our lives over the last nine months?

Here’s what the next couple of months could look like.

1. Actual vaccinations

An obvious point, but worth stating: some people will actually be invited to receive the vaccine, greatly reducing their risk of developing Covid-19.

In the UK, the elderly, and those who live or work in care homes, will be among the first in line to receive the jab as early as next week.

“It will be at least a month before we start seeing the benefit from the first people to be vaccinated,” says Dr Kate Harrison, an immunology lecturer at the University of Chester.

“Everyone will need to be given two doses at three weeks apart and protection doesn’t start to rise for a week after the second dose.”

In other words, by mid-January, people in our families could start to become immune, or at least protected (since the vaccine doesn’t have 100% efficacy).

She believes it could take “a significant period” for normality to return.

The rollout of the vaccine will be a huge logistical undertaking and it could take several months to get those priority groups fully vaccinated.

“There’s no way we’re going to achieve that before spring,” says Professor Linda Bauld, a public health expert at the University of Edinburgh.

“I think the key groups that need to be vaccinated will have been by March or April – not just from the Pfizer vaccine but hopefully other vaccines as they get regulatory approval.”

“Some of these older and vulnerable people will be living in relatively remote villages and rural locations,” says Professor Sally Cutler, a medical microbiology lecturer at the University of East London.

“It’s going to take a while to actually get the vaccination out to all of those individuals.”