The coronavirus vaccine will be given
to elderly people attending hospital
appointments and NHS staff next week
after Britain became the first western
country yesterday to approve the jabs.
Sir Simon Stevens, head of the health
service in England, said that the initial
distribution of 800,000 doses would
begin from 50 “hospital hubs” next
week as he played down hopes of mass
vaccination before next year.
Care home managers demanded
clarity over when their residents would
receive jabs after it emerged they would
not be sent any doses for weeks. They
warned of “confusion and raised expec-
tations” among vulnerable people.
The government confirmed yester-
day that the Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
had approved the Pfizer-Biontech jab.
Britain’s approval of the vaccination
prompted an extraordinary spat with
European Union regulators over the
speed of the decision.
Boris Johnson urged people not to be
“carried away with over-optimism”. He
told MPs: “It is very important that
people do not get their hopes up too
soon about the speed with which we
will be able to roll out this vaccine.” The
prime minister urged people to stick to
social distancing rules because it would
“inevitably take some months before all
the most vulnerable are protected”.
In other developments:
6 There were 16,170 new confirmed
coronavirus cases yesterday, a drop of
11 per cent on a week ago, 648 deaths
and 1,191 hospital admissions.
6 The return of students to universities
will be staggered after Christmas to
avoid spreading the virus. Some will not
be back on campus until February.
6 Matt Hancock, the health secretary,
said he would be vaccinated live on tele-
vision to demonstrate the jab’s safety.
6 Shoppers returned to the high street
after England’s lockdown was lifted and
some care home residents were able to
see their relatives.
6 The World Health Organisation
issued stricter guidance, suggesting
that people in areas with high levels of
Covid-19 should wear facemasks in
offices and schools.
The prime minister joined Sir Simon
and Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy
chief medical officer for England, to ex-
plain how the Pfizer vaccine would be
introduced. Trials have indicated that it
is 95 per cent effective in preventing
symptomatic coronavirus and regula-
tors concluded that it worked in all agegroups with “very mild” side effects. Al-
though care home residents and staff
are top of a priority list drawn up by the
Joint Committee on Vaccination and
Immunisation, it will not be sent to care
homes initially because it must be stored
at minus 70C in batches of 975 doses.
The Welsh government admitted
yesterday that it could not deliver doses
to care homes and it is understood that
the same will be true in England until
the MHRA approves a way to split theChris Smyth Whitehall Editor
Kat Lay Health Editor
Rhys Blakely Science Correspondent
IN THE NEWS
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by member states including
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much to Britain in efforts to
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Nearly half of the bridges on
England’s busiest roads have
key sections in a poor or very
poor condition, raising fears
over traffic chaos while repairs
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A girl born five weeks ago is
believed to have set a new
record after growing from
an embryo that was frozen
28 years ago, when her mother
was only a year old. Page 17Protesters jailed
Three of Hong Kong’s most
prominent pro-democracy
leaders have been jailed for
organising a protest. The
sentencing was condemned by
human rights groups. Page 38Tesco repays taxman
Tesco and Morrisons are to
repay £850 million to the
taxpayer after benefiting from
a business rates holiday. Sales
at supermarkets have surged
during the pandemic. Page 43Fury in fight with BBC
Tyson Fury was involved in a
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the Sports Personality of the
Year award. Page 78Thursday December 3 2020 | thetimes.co.uk | No 73333 2G
£2 £1.10 to subscribers
(based on 7 Day Print Pack)Care homes demanded clarity over when they would receive vaccinations after being excluded from the first wave of dosespacks for safe distribution in smaller
quantities. Sir Simon suggested that
this could take several weeks but hoped
that care homes would be able to re-
ceive doses before the end of the year.
Downing Street said that residents
would be receiving vaccinations next
week. In practice that will be limited to
the small numbers coming into hos-
pital, which have been reduced owing
to Covid-19 risks. The NHS expects to
Continued on page 4, col 3First vaccine jabs for NHS
staff and elderly patients
6 Hospitals will receive initial 800,000 doses 6 Johnson warns process could take months
KEVIN COOMBS/REUTERSGas boilers in
firing line as
PM vows cut
to emissions
Steven Swinford Deputy Political EditorBoris Johnson will promise to cut
Britain’s greenhouse gas pollution at a
faster rate than any other big economy
as part of an attempt to hit net zero
emissions by 2050.
The prime minister is expected to
announce tomorrow a new target to
reduce emissions by 69 per cent by
2030 compared with 1990 levels.
Last month Mr Johnson published a
ten-point plan for cutting emissions
that included a ban on the sale of new
diesel and petrol cars from 2030.
Experts have suggested, though, that
the measures do not go far enough.
“The big issue is gas boilers,” a
government source said. “If we really
want to make these kinds of inroads we
have to do more to decarbonise people’s
homes. The prime minister’s ten-point
plan will not be enough.”
Britain has reduced emissions by
45 per cent since 1990, meaning that the
rate of decarbonisation will have to
increase by half over the next decade to
meet the new target.
The existing target is for emissions to
be cut by 57 per cent compared with
1990 levels by 2030, although some
analysts have said that a more accurate
way to calculate emissions would
put this at 61-64 per cent. While
Mr Johnson has yet to sign off the new
figure formally, The Times has been told
that the two options under considera-
tion are either 68 per cent or 69 per
cent.
The new target is significantly higher
than that of the European Union,
which has a goal of hitting 40 per cent
by 2030. The European Commission
has said that it wants to increase this to
55 per cent, and MEPs want it set at
60 per cent.
Britain is required to set a target for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions
under the terms of the Paris climate
agreement, which it signed in 2015. The
Continued on page 4, col 3Quiz of the year
by the Royal Statistical Society
Don’t move!
How to age well
if you don’t
look like this
Deborah Ross
INSIDE
TIMES
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