Vaccine Roll-out Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department of Health and Social Care
Janet Daby
Main Page: Janet Daby (Labour - Lewisham East)Department Debates - View all Janet Daby's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(3 years, 11 months ago)
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Matt Hancock
I am delighted that my hon. Friend is volunteering in a vaccination centre; that is terrific. This is a big national effort, and he is playing his part. Some 49,000 vaccinations had been done in Nottinghamshire as of 17 January. Clearly we still have to do more, but we are making very significant progress. As I said, the rate-limiting factor is the amount of supply that we get into the country, rather than, for instance, the enthusiasm of GPs in the NHS or, indeed, the number of volunteers who have stepped forward such as my hon. Friend.
Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab) [V]
A constituent of mine, Mr Clive Tombs, recently reached out to me regarding the crisis facing the London ambulance service. He told me that no one he knows in the service has had a vaccine, despite their being on the frontline of exposure to the virus. At the same time, we have seen pictures of ambulances lined up for hours waiting to get into A&E departments. Clive suggested that, with some co-ordination from the Department, arrangements could be made for ambulance staff to receive vaccines from hospitals while they are waiting in the queue—if there is a surplus and to prevent wastage. Has the Secretary of State considered that possibility? Does he agree that that is a humble suggestion from Clive when, in fact, frontline ambulance staff should be prioritised for the vaccine?
Matt Hancock
Frontline ambulance staff absolutely are and should be prioritised for the vaccine. They are in category 2, and we have to make sure that that happens. I will take away Clive’s idea, work on it and get back to the hon. Lady to see what progress we can make.