Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Siobhan Baillie

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I have just announced the need to move a significant proportion of England into tier 4 restrictions, and I welcome the implicit support for that measure. Where it is possible to keep some of the freedoms that we all cherish, we should do so, and that is the basis for our tiered approach.

I of course welcome the hon. Lady’s support for the roll-out of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which will happen right across the UK from Monday. It has been a pleasure working with Jeane Freeman, the SNP Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Health in Holyrood, to ensure that this vaccine, which has been bought, developed and supported effectively by UK science right across the country, can be deployed properly to everybody in the whole of the UK on a fair and equitable basis according to their clinical need. I look forward to working very hard to make sure that happens.

[Siobhan Baillie (Stroud) (Con) [V]]

Many businesses in Gloucestershire are gutted to be placed in tier 4. This makes the roll-out of the vaccine even more important. However, there is a worrying increase in anti-vax information in Stroud that is causing a lot of distress and upset for local people. It is appalling that our Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust had to spend its precious time during this pandemic defending itself against films on social media that were wrongly claiming that the hospital is empty. Will the Secretary of State assist me to reassure Stroud about the vaccines and encourage people not to share covid information from unofficial sources to stop this dangerous, damaging and disrespectful behaviour?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, I strongly agree with my hon. Friend, who speaks very powerfully about the need for proper, authorised information about these vaccines, which save lives. We have been very careful to ensure that the independent regulator makes the decision on how these vaccines should be deployed, and indeed whether they should be deployed, and it is confident in their safety and their efficacy. It is that information, and all the information that is set out by the NHS, that people should look to if they have questions—if they want to know how and why the vaccine works, and who it should be used for. I pay tribute to all those who work in the hospitals of Gloucestershire. It is hard work at the moment in the NHS. Rates of coronavirus in Gloucestershire have really shot up over just the past two or three weeks, and unfortunately that is why we have had to take the action that we have on restrictions. I want to thank all of the NHS for doing all the work that it has been doing over Christmas and will have to do over the weeks ahead.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Matt Hancock and Siobhan Baillie

Monday 14th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I will just answer the first bit. I was absolutely thrilled to see Coventry delivering the first vaccination with the clinically approved vaccine in the world. It made my heart sing, and I am so glad that we managed to do that. With the help of the international scientists, the NHS and the regulator, we have made such progress. That really put Coventry on the map, and I hope that the hon. Lady is proud.

[Siobhan Baillie (Stroud) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State thank Stroud and Gloucestershire health and care teams, who are working to the point of exhaustion? This second wave is proving to be quite difficult in a number of ways. Separately, I welcome the developments in testing and vaccines. Would the Secretary of State be willing to get PHE to develop more pilots and work on roadmaps for the wedding industry and other struggling sectors, so that we can benefit from that as quickly as possible in the new year?

[Matt Hancock]

The best thing we can do for the wedding industry is to try to get the vaccine rolled out as fast as possible to protect people, so that this virus no longer kills as many as it sadly does today. I join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to all those in Gloucestershire, including in south Gloucestershire, who are working so hard. There has been a very difficult spike in the virus. Thankfully, it is coming down now, and I hope to see the number of hospitalisations in her area reducing. While that is happening, we have to get on with the roll-out of the vaccine, which is a 24/7 job. I pay tribute to and thank all the NHS staff who are working so hard to make that happen.