Can you buy a Pfizer Covid vaccine privately?

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The Pfizer Covid vaccine has now been approved by use in the UK, with some patients being lined up to have their first dose next week. But if you don’t want to wait for your turn to have a coronavirus vaccine, can you jump the queue by paying for the vaccine privately?

The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the safety of the Pfizer/BioNTech.

It means that the UK Government can now distribute the vaccine to the public.

The first doses are already on their way to the UK ahead of the first rollout next week.

A priority list has now been drawn up by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), with those living in care homes the first in line for the vaccine.

The confirmed priority list is as follows:

  • Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
  • All those aged 80 years of age and over. Front line health and social care workers
  • All those aged 75 years of age and over
  • All those aged 70 years of age and over. Clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
  • All those aged 65 years of age and over
  • All those individuals aged 16 years of age to 64 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
  • All those 60 years of age and over
  • All those 55 years of age and over
  • All those 50 years of age and over

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Can you pay for the Covid vaccine to jump the queue?

As it stands, the vaccine will only be available in the UK as part of the NHS rollout.

That means you won’t be able to pay for the Pfizer vaccine privately, if you’d rather get vaccinated sooner rather than later.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has previously revealed that he wasn’t aware of any plan for the vaccine to be available privately.

He insisted that, while it’s ultimately a decision for Government ministers, he thinks the vaccines should be priorities by those most in need, as opposed to wealth.

He told a Downing Street press briefing: “I am giving you my views as a clinician.

“I think these vaccines need to be prioritised to those who need them, not those who can afford to pay for them privately.”

The UK has ordered 30 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which should be enough to vaccinate 15 million people.

By the end of 2020, an estimated 10 million doses should have arrived in the UK.

The first 800,000 doses of the vaccine are already on their way to the UK.

Around 400,000 people will be eligible to have their first dose of the Pfizer coronavirus jab by next week.

But the vaccine can only be sent in batches of up to 5,000 doses.

That’s because of the incredibly cold temperatures needed during transportation, which also requires dry ice.

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