First look at new NHS Covid-19 vaccination identity card

Fears over new COVID ID cards: Tories call on Boris to legislate to stop pubs, restaurants and shops demanding proof of vaccination on entry – as minister repeatedly refuses to rule out new documents being used as ‘immunity passports’

  • ID card will be handed out to every Briton after they receive their Covid-19 vaccine in the coming months
  • Card warns: ‘Make sure you keep this card in your purse or wallet’ – but Government denies it is a passport
  • Tory MPs demand legislation that could prevent the cards being used as a vaccine passport by another name 
  • Critics say businesses may demand to see them and there are concerns they could be very easy to counterfeit
  • The card will start to be handed out when Pfizer vaccine roll-out begins in Britain from tomorrow  

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Millions of Britons will be handed a Covid-19 vaccination ID card proving they have received the jab and will be urged to keep it with them at all times raising fears the Government is bringing in an immunity passport by stealth, it was revealed today.

Foreign Office minister James Cleverly has ducked calling it a passport but admitted the cards are ‘ultimately about unlocking people’s lives and the economy’. He told Sky News that he hoped that they would not be required as a ‘ticket’ to get into pubs, restaurants or sporting events. 

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove has denied any plans for a UK ‘vaccination passports’ – but businesses including airline Qantas have already said they will give preferential treatment to anyone who has had a jab and can prove it.

Tory former minister David Jones told MailOnline that the Government needs to make clear that the UK cards must not be used to stop people living their lives – and if necessary Boris Johnson should legislate to ensure that is the case.

He said: ‘It should be an entirely free decision [to carry a card]. I think people should be vaccinated but I don’t think they should be influenced by whether they can get into a restaurant or get into a theatre. That is the danger of having things like this. People may well be told, well you can’t come in unless you produce your card. I don’t think that is right.’ 

MailOnline understands that one way to legislate would be to make it illegal to discriminate against someone based on whether they have had the vaccine. Or ministers could clarify in existing coronavirus regulations that businesses do not have the right to see the cards, as they are medical records.

Today official images reveal the card patients will receive to prove they have received the jab. It will be handed out in every case and in large bold font on the front it warns those with one to: ‘Make sure you keep this record card in your purse or wallet’. 

Critics fear the cards are a step towards the immunity passport the Government has vehemently denied it wants to bring in. There is growing concern that once they become widespread in the UK businesses could demand to see them as standard – and questions also remain about the need for the Covid-19 card when they are not standard with the flu jab, for example. 

Others have said the proof of vaccination cards appear easy to fake, with one critic saying: ‘No photo, no details. What could possibly go wrong?’. Another tweeted: ‘Not long until they are ready to buy on internet for self completion. Literally just a cardboard card, no security or anything!’

Up to four million doses of the Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccine are expected to be administered by the end of December, after pharmacy technicians in Croydon took the first shipment of the jab over the weekend. It has proved to be effective in 95 per cent of cases and offers up to six months of immunity.

A mass vaccination scheme treating over 80s, care home workers and high-risk NHS staff will begin tomorrow morning at 50 NHS hubs, special jab centres and GP clinics across the UK.

The concerns over the new ID card came as: 

  • Health chiefs reveal UK will get four vaccine doses by the end of the year as first batch arrives at London hospital with first jabs starting tomorrow;
  • Government plans to airlift in vaccine if Brexit causes any delays at ports; 
  • Rapid Covid testing trial begins in 14 Scottish care homes today meaning visitors can see loved ones in less than an hour after negative swab result;
Michael Gove and other ministers have denied the Government has any plans to create a 'vaccine passport,' but the NHS has created a card for people to keep a record if they have received the jab, warning them in bold: 'Make sure you keep this record card in your purse or wallet'

Michael Gove and other ministers have denied the Government has any plans to create a 'vaccine passport,' but the NHS has created a card for people to keep a record if they have received the jab, warning them in bold: 'Make sure you keep this record card in your purse or wallet'

Michael Gove and other ministers have denied the Government has any plans to create a ‘vaccine passport,’ but the NHS has created a card for people to keep a record if they have received the jab, warning them in bold: ‘Make sure you keep this record card in your purse or wallet’ 

Boris Johnson visited Uxbridge Police Station with Tory Mayor of London candidate Shaun Bailey. The PM is being urged by his own MPs to prevent the card being used to stop people living their lives

Boris Johnson visited Uxbridge Police Station with Tory Mayor of London candidate Shaun Bailey. The PM is being urged by his own MPs to prevent the card being used to stop people living their lives

Boris Johnson visited Uxbridge Police Station with Tory Mayor of London candidate Shaun Bailey. The PM is being urged by his own MPs to prevent the card being used to stop people living their lives

Up to 4million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine are expected to be administered by the end of December

Up to 4million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine are expected to be administered by the end of December

Up to 4million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine are expected to be administered by the end of December 

A graphic shows where the 50 NHS hubs, special jab centres and GP clinics offering the vaccine next week are located

A graphic shows where the 50 NHS hubs, special jab centres and GP clinics offering the vaccine next week are located

A graphic shows where the 50 NHS hubs, special jab centres and GP clinics offering the vaccine next week are located

Don’t panic if you’ve not been contacted about the coronavirus vaccine, health chiefs tell the Over-80s as it’s revealed most of them won’t get it until the new year 

Health bosses have told people over 80 not to panic if they have not been contacted about the coronavirus vaccine – as it is revealed that most of them will not get a jab until the New Year as mass immunisation begins.  

Vaccinations will be administered at dozens of hospital hubs from Tuesday – on what has been dubbed ‘V-Day’ by Matt Hancock – with people aged 80 and over, care home staff and NHS workers at higher risk at the front of the queue.  

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said people need to ‘hang fire’ and be assured that they have not been forgotten about, despite not receiving a letter or a phone call about the vaccine.

He told the PA news agency: ‘I don’t think people should expect anything over the next few days because the reality is, as I said, that for the vast, vast, vast majority of people this will be done in January, February, March.

‘And the one thing that we don’t want people to get anxious about or concerned about is ‘Where’s my letter?’ in December.’ 

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Images have now been shared of a card patients will receive to prove they have received the jab – which has proved to be effective in 95 per cent of cases and offers up to six months of immunity. 

The card contains space to detail the name of the vaccine, its batch number and the date that it was injected.

There is space for a second date, as Pfizer’s jab requires two vaccinations.

It’s not yet clear if the cards are mandatory or part of an immunity passport, which has been toted as a solution to help support the hospitality industry as it reopens.  

Michael Gove dismissed the notion, telling Sky News: ‘That’s not being planned. I certainly am not planning to introduce any vaccine passports and I don’t know anyone else in government who is.’

UK Health minister Nadhim Zahawi said its restaurants and bars could ask for some proof of vaccination.

He told the BBC: ‘I think you’ll probably find that restaurants and bars and cinemas and other venues, sports venues, will probably also use that system.’

Fears that people would miss out in the first wave of immunisation because of short supplies were raised last week after the Government announced just 800,000 doses of the Pfizer jab had been sent to the UK.

But NHS bosses looked to quash concerns yesterday, with Saffron Cordery, the deputy CEO of NHS Providers, assuring the public that the country was expecting ‘up to four million doses’ by the end of December.

She told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: ‘We know that the first batch of 800,000 is making its way to the country now. We know that many of the 50 hospital hubs up and down the country have already received their allocation and more is expected today, so we know that that consignment is here.

‘We are expecting in the low millions, so up to four million doses, to be with us by the end of December. So that consignment and that distribution is really well on the way now.’  

Hundreds of young people attempted to enter Harrods in Knightsbridge, London, on Saturday night and crowded together in the streets outside

Hundreds of young people attempted to enter Harrods in Knightsbridge, London, on Saturday night and crowded together in the streets outside

Hundreds of young people attempted to enter Harrods in Knightsbridge, London, on Saturday night and crowded together in the streets outside

High-risk NHS staff, along with over 80s and care home workers, will be the first to receive the jab when the vaccine programme begins tomorrow

High-risk NHS staff, along with over 80s and care home workers, will be the first to receive the jab when the vaccine programme begins tomorrow

High-risk NHS staff, along with over 80s and care home workers, will be the first to receive the jab when the vaccine programme begins tomorrow

Official figures released yesterday also revealed a further 231 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 - a 7.4 per cent rise on the 215 deaths reported last Sunday

Official figures released yesterday also revealed a further 231 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 - a 7.4 per cent rise on the 215 deaths reported last Sunday

Official figures released yesterday also revealed a further 231 people have died after testing positive for Covid-19 – a 7.4 per cent rise on the 215 deaths reported last Sunday

Britain recorded a further 17,272 coronavirus yesterday - marking a 42 per cent rise on last Sunday's total

Britain recorded a further 17,272 coronavirus yesterday - marking a 42 per cent rise on last Sunday's total

Britain recorded a further 17,272 coronavirus yesterday – marking a 42 per cent rise on last Sunday’s total

LIST OF THE 50 HOSPITAL HUBS IN THE FIRST WAVE OF COVID-19 VACCINE PROGRAMME 

  • Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
  • Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • East Suffolk And North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
  • North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
  • James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Norfolk And Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
  • Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
  • Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust
  • Croydon Health Services NHS Trust
  • St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Denmark Hill
  • King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – Princess Royal University Hospital
  • Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust
  • Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • University Hospitals Coventry And Warwickshire NHS Trust
  • Royal Stoke Hospital
  • Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust
  • University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust
  • United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
  • Shrewsbury And Telford Hospital NHS Trust
  • Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust
  • Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
  • The Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
  • South Tees NHS Trust
  • Wirral University Teaching Hospital
  • Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust
  • Stockport NHS Foundation Trust
  • Blackpool Teaching Hospital
  • Lancashire Teaching Hospital Trust
  • Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust – Wexham Park Hospital
  • Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • East Kent Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – William Harvey Hospital
  • Brighton And Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust – Royal Sussex County Hospital
  • Portsmouth University Hospitals Trust
  • Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust
  • Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
  • Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
  • University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
  • Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • North Bristol NHS Trust

 

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Croydon University Hospital was yesterday among the first 50 hospital hubs to receive the much-anticipated vaccine, ready for use on patients as early as tomorrow.

Speaking as the boxes were unloaded from lorries and into the specialist storage facilities, NHS England’s medical director said it was ‘a really exciting moment’.

Professor Stephen Powis said the NHS was geared up to start vaccinating those most in need from Tuesday but warned it will be ‘a marathon, not a sprint’.

‘This is a really exciting moment. NHS staff around the country at vaccination hubs, such as this one we’re at today, have been working tirelessly to make sure that we are prepared to commence vaccination on Tuesday,’ he. told Sky News ‘This feels like the beginning of the end but of course, it’s a marathon, not a sprint and it will take many months for us to vaccinate who needs vaccination.’ The first batches of the Covid vaccine arrived at some British hospitals yesterday, bolstering hopes that an end to the pandemic is in sight.

Up to 50 hospital hubs will start vaccinations tomorrow – dubbed ‘V-Day’ by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.

Initial doses of the vaccine – which was last week given the green light by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) – are being prioritised for those most at risk.

Elderly patients, aged 80 plus, attending hospital for other appointments are likely to be first in line for the jab, followed by care home and NHS staff.

The UK has ordered 40million doses, enough to vaccinate 20 million people, and was expecting as many as ten million doses by the end of the year.

GP surgeries in England have been told to start staffing COVID-19 vaccination centres by 14 December.

Pictures show the arrival of a batch of vaccines at Croydon University Hospital in south London over the weekend, with similar scenes unfolding all around the country.

There, it was unboxed by a pharmacy technician wearing protective safety equipment, designed to cope with its -70C cold-storage requirements.

After going through final quality control checks the batch is placed in a freezer to ensure it can be kept at the right temperature until it is ready to be used.

Distribution of the vaccine across the UK is being undertaken by Public Health England and the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland through systems specially adapted from those used for the national immunisation programmes.

Patients aged 80-plus attending hospital for other appointments are likely to be first in line for the jab, followed by care home staff. Inoculated patients will be given a card filled out with their details to prove that they have had it.

GP surgeries in England have been told to start staffing vaccination centres by December 14. Britain has ordered 40million Pfizer doses, enough to vaccinate 20million people.

The arrival of a batch at Croydon hospital in south London this weekend was captured by a photographer.

It was unboxed by a pharmacy technician wearing protective safety equipment, designed to cope with its -70C (-94F) storage requirements.

After going through final quality control checks, the batch was placed in a freezer to maintain the low temperature.

Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, said delivery of the first 800,000 doses was well under way. ‘We expect there to be up to four million doses in the country by the end of the December,’ she added.

The deliveries took place as the chief drugs regulator said the vaccine was ‘very safe, effective and will help the country turn a corner’.

Dr June Raine, chief executive of the MHRA, said strong vaccine uptake was key to getting rid of tier restrictions.

She likened the Pfizer vaccine to getting a flu jab or holiday inoculations, adding that there should be ‘real confidence’ in how rigorously it has been tested.

A graphic shows how the Pfizer jab will work, by entering the patient's cells, causing the immune system to produce antibodies and activate T-cells ready to destroy those infected with coronavirus

A graphic shows how the Pfizer jab will work, by entering the patient's cells, causing the immune system to produce antibodies and activate T-cells ready to destroy those infected with coronavirus

A graphic shows how the Pfizer jab will work, by entering the patient’s cells, causing the immune system to produce antibodies and activate T-cells ready to destroy those infected with coronavirus

A graphic demonstrates the order of priority in which the vaccine will be rolled out, starting with residents in care homes

A graphic demonstrates the order of priority in which the vaccine will be rolled out, starting with residents in care homes

A graphic demonstrates the order of priority in which the vaccine will be rolled out, starting with residents in care homes

Appearing on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Dr Raine said it was ‘vitally important’ that those eligible had the vaccination, to ‘help defeat this terrible disease’.

She said: ‘I would really like to emphasise that the highest standards of scrutiny, of safety and of effectiveness and quality have been met – international standards. And so there should be real confidence in the rigour of our approval.

‘More than that, our Commission on Human Medicines has scrutinised every piece of data too, so there should be no doubt whatever that this is a very safe and highly effective vaccine. It will help us turn the corner.’

Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers which represents hospitals, said delivery of the first doses was well underway.

She said: ‘Many of the hospital hubs have received their allocation of the 800,000 and we expect there to be up to 4 million doses in the country by the end of the December.

She added: ‘It is important that people wait to be contacted by the NHS to have their vaccine. There is a rigorous, largescale exercise already well underway by all the hospital hubs with local partners to identify and contact people who will be first in line. This will help ensure that the process runs as smoothly as possible.’

HOW DOES PFIZER’S COVID VACCINE WORK? AND IS IT SAFE?

What type of vaccine is this?

The jab is known as a messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.

Conventional vaccines are produced using weakened forms of the virus, but mRNAs use only the virus’s genetic code.

An mRNA vaccine is injected into the body where it enters cells and tells them to create antigens. These antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus.

What are the advantages of this type of vaccine?

No actual virus is needed to create an mRNA vaccine. This means the rate at which it can be produced is dramatically accelerated. As a result, mRNA vaccines have been hailed as potentially offering a rapid solution to new outbreaks of infectious diseases.

In theory, they can also be modified reasonably quickly if, for example, a virus develops mutations and begins to change. mRNA vaccines are also cheaper to produce than traditional vaccines, although both will play an important role in tackling Covid-19.

Where is the vaccine made?

Pfizer’s jab is being manufactured at the firm’s plant in Belgium, as well as separate sites in the US.

BioNTech — the other drug company involved in the vaccine — has two production facilities in Germany that are expected to start churning out doses in the New Year.

Is it safe?

All vaccines undergo rigorous testing and have oversight from experienced regulators.

Some believe mRNA vaccines are safer for the patient as they do not rely on any element of the virus being injected into the body. mRNA vaccines have been tried and tested in the lab and on animals before moving to human studies.

The human trials of mRNA vaccines – involving tens of thousands of people worldwide – have been going on since early 2020 to show whether they are safe and effective.

Pfizer will continue to collect safety and long-term outcomes data from participants for two years.

Don’t vaccines take a long time to produce?

In the past it has taken years, sometimes decades, to produce a vaccine.

Traditionally, vaccine development includes various processes, including design and development stages followed by clinical trials – which in themselves need approval before they even begin.

How has this come about so quickly?

In the trials for a Covid-19 vaccine, things look slightly different. A process which usually takes years has been condensed to months.

While the early design and development stages look similar, the clinical trial phases overlap, instead of taking place sequentially.

And pharmaceutical firms have begun manufacturing before final approval has been granted – taking on the risk that they may be forced to scrap their work.

The new way of working means that regulators around the world can start to look at scientific data earlier than they traditionally would do.

But won’t that mean that safety is compromised?

Even though some phases of the clinical trial process have run in parallel rather than one after another, the safety checks have still been the same as they would for any new medicine.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has adopted the phrase ‘safety is our watchword’.

Regulators have said they will ‘rigorously assess’ the data and evidence submitted on the vaccine’s safety, quality and effectiveness.

And, in most clinical trials, any safety issues are usually identified in the first two to three months – a period which has already lapsed for most vaccine front-runners.

How have regulators acted so quickly?

Regulators have been carrying out ‘rolling reviews’, which means that instead of going through reams of information at the conclusion of the trials, they have been given access to the data as the scientists work.

A rolling review of the vaccine data started several months ago.

This means regulators can start to look at scientific data earlier than they traditionally would do, which in turn means the approval process can be sped up. Regulators sometimes have thousands of pages of information to go over with a fine-tooth comb – which understandably takes time.

Once all the data available on the vaccine is submitted, MHRA experts will carefully and scientifically review the safety, quality and effectiveness data – how it protects people from Covid-19 and the level of protection it provides.

After this has been done, advice is sought from the Government’s independent advisory body, the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM).

So what data would the regulator have looked at?

The information provided to the MHRA will have included what the vaccine contains, how it works in the body, how well it works and its side-effects, and who it is meant to be used for.

This data must include the results of all animal studies and clinical trials in humans, manufacturing and quality controls, consistency in batch production, and testing of the final product specification.

The factories where the vaccines are made are also inspected before a licence can be granted to make sure that the product supplied will be of the same consistent high standard.

 

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