UK Edition
Ministers are under pressure to expand the Covid vaccination programme and offer jabs "round the clock", 24 hours a day, in order to speed up its rollout.
On Monday, the Government published its plan committing to offering Covid jabs to 32 million people – 60 per cent of the UK adult population – by the spring.
But on Monday night there was confusion about parts of the scheme, with health officials forced to hastily rewrite invitation letters due to be sent to hundreds of thousand of elderly people after they sparked panic.
The rollout of the invitations is also being hampered by major problems with deliveries by Royal Mail, with some areas facing long delays in receiving post.
On Monday, the head of the NHS said the number of doses administered by the vaccination programme had doubled in the past week, with more than 2.5 million now delivered. Around 40 per cent of people aged 80 and over have received their jabs, along with around a quarter of those in care homes.
But ministers were under pressure to explain why the programme is being restricted to daytimes, with experts pointing to countries such as Israel, which has already vaccinated one fifth of its population after offering vaccines 24 hours a day.
The UK vaccines delivery plan sets out a schedule to vaccinate 15 million vulnerable adults over the next four months. More than 2,700 venues, including 50 mass vaccination centres, will administer jabs. Seven major centres began work on Monday, with sites including London, Manchester and Epsom.
On Monday, the NHS was forced to rewrite hundreds of thousands of letters inviting people for vaccines. More than 130,000 letters already sent to over-80s were criticised by MPs and council leaders after failing to make it clear that anyone who preferred not to travel to a super centre could still receive the vaccine via their GP at a later date.
The messages sparked concern among elderly and vulnerable people who believed they would miss out on a vaccination unless they travelled up to 40 miles from their homes. "People were on the phone to me over the weekend in tears," said Shaun Davies, the leader of Telford and Wrekin Council.
On Monday night, a senior NHS source said 500,000 more letters due to be sent this week would be reworded to make it clear that people unable to make the journey would still be offered a jab by their family doctor. "They will be redone before going out," the source said.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, questioned why services were being set up on an 8am to 8pm basis given the nature of the virus crisis.
In a speech in London, he called for "a really round-the-clock vaccine programme, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in every village and every town, in every high street and every GP surgery".
Downing Street said on Monday that there was currently "no clamour" for appointments late at night or in the morning, with most appointments currently targeted at those aged 80 and over, but ministers said they would consider offering such time slots if it helped them speed up the programme as it is rolled out more widely.
"If we need to go to 24-hour work we will absolutely go 24 hours a day to make sure we vaccinate as quickly as we can," Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He later told MPs a 24-hour rollout could begin in the second phase of the vaccine delivery plan when adults over 50 start to receive the jab.
Asked about 24-hour rollout of the programme, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said: "We'll do this if it's needed, absolutely. We'll do whatever it takes to get this vaccine rolled out as fast as possible."
Speaking at a televised Downing Street press conference, he introduced a caveat, saying: "The thing is that if both the person doing the vaccination and the person being vaccinated would prefer for that to happen in the middle of the day rather than the middle of the night, then that's probably when we should do it.
"But there are groups – night shifts, for instance – where it might be the best approach."
Professor Stephen Powis, the National Medical Director of NHS England, said: "I'm sure, for the vast majority of people, they would prefer to have their vaccine during the day. And of course for the most efficient and the best use of our staff and volunteers, working through the day is the most efficient way of delivering the most vaccine."
On Monday, Allegra Stratton, the Prime Minister's press secretary, said: "My understanding is at the moment there's not a clamour for appointments late into the night or early in the morning.
"If it was the case, then it is something the NHS could well consider. They are doing their absolute utmost to get the jab into people's arms as quickly as possible."
By mid-February, 15 million people – including everyone over the age of 70 – should have been offered their first vaccine under the Government's plans.
The programme will then shift to those in the remaining priority groups, including everyone over 50 and younger people with health conditions, who should receive their first jabs by the end of April.
Sir Simon Stevens, the NHS England boss, told the Commons Public Accounts Committee: "This is a sprint to mid-February [to vaccinate the four highest priority groups] and then it will be a sprint from mid-February through to the end of April to extend the vaccination to the rest of the higher risk groups identified by the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation.
"Then it will be a marathon from April through the summer into the autumn, where we are offering everybody in the country who wants it, over the age of 18 for whom the vaccines are authorised, that jab."
The Government and its advisers have yet to decide who should be prioritised for vaccines once all over-50s have been offered them.
Ministers have already said there is a good case for putting teachers and police high on this list, and Monday's plan confirmed that those "at high risk of catching Covid-19" and those "delivering key public services" may be given a higher place in the queue.