Covid-19 Update

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I will absolutely look into, and get back to my hon. Friend about, the BioNTech test. Of course, BioNTech is an absolutely fabulous pharmaceutical company, as the whole House knows. What he says about the pressures in Essex is very significant, and it is important. Of course, I will look favourably on any request for military assistance, working closely with my right hon. Friend the Defence Secretary, who has been incredibly supportive, as have the whole armed forces, during this whole year. They have done so much. They are already involved in the roll-out of testing, as my hon. Friend knows, and we draw on the ingenuity, reserve and sheer manpower of the armed forces when we need them. I am very grateful for my hon. Friend’s support for the work that we all need to do in Essex to support the NHS there and to try to get the number of cases down.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

May I first thank the Secretary of State, as always, for his good news on the TV this morning? At this time of the year, I think it has given every one of us a skip in our step to know that the vaccine can be delivered.

Can the Secretary of State confirm what discussions have taken place with devolved UK Administrations about the roll-out of the vaccine, the timescale for the completion of that and the approach to education and business production to ensure that a UK-wide lens with regional approaches is possible, while still ensuring that the message remains that we can save lives and the economies if we simply do the right thing?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, absolutely. This is a UK vaccine that is being deployed across the UK fairly, according to clinical need. I spoke to my opposite number in Northern Ireland this morning, and I can confirm that, across Northern Ireland, the roll-out of the Oxford vaccine will start on Monday 4 January, as with the rest of the United Kingdom of course. We cannot give timelines on when any roll-out will be completed, because it does depend on the delivery schedule and the manufacturing schedule of the vaccine, but the good news is that we have on order enough approved vaccines now to ensure that every adult who wants one can have the vaccine, and that is true right across Northern Ireland and the whole of Great Britain.