UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has revealed that the country has decided to prioritize people by age and not by occupation, according to media reports.
Hancock emphasized that the second phase of vaccine inoculation will follow expert guidelines that will focus on age groups and not on occupational risks.
According to a BBC report, about one in three adults in the UK have received their first injection of the Covid-19 vaccine.
One of Britain’s top medics said the death rate from COVID-19 was lower for teachers than for some other professions.
Britain’s deputy chief medical officer Prof Jonathan Van-Tam said, as quoted in a BBC report, ONS data on the jobs with the highest Covid death rates. This includes restaurant and caterer managers or owners, followed by metalworkers and machine operators, food, beverage and tobacco processing operators, chefs, and taxi and taxi drivers.
Speaking at the coronavirus press conference, Van-Tam added that the male death rate in each of these groups was more than 100 deaths per 1,00,000, compared to 18.4 deaths per 1,00,000 male teachers.
“When we enter the second phase of the vaccine campaign … being in the queue is more important than your position on it,” added Prof. Van-Tam.
The UK government now intends to inject all those over 50 and those with comorbidities before April 15. It has promised to complete phase two – in which all other adults are offered their first dose – by July 31, the BBC report added.
Hancock said, “Thankfully, teachers are no more likely to catch Covid than other members of the population who go to work, and trying to come up with a scheme that prioritizes one group of professionals over another would be tricky to implement. and will not do what we ask JCVI to do … namely ensure that we minimize the number of people who die. “
The government is confident that the next phase of the vaccination program will be critical because it will reduce the pressure on hospitals and more lives can be saved.
Meanwhile, more than 19.1 million people in the UK have received their first shot of the vaccine.