Have your say: Would you take the COVID-19 vaccine?

With hopes of a COVID vaccine being ready in a matter of weeks, people in the UK are set to be among the first in the world to receive the jab.

The UK’s medicines regulator could approve the Pfizer or Oxford jabs within days of a licence application being submitted due to rolling analysis of the data, according to health secretary Matt Hancock.

He told MPs in the Commons on Tuesday that the focus was on delivering the vaccines from Oxford and Pfizer if they pass safety tests and are approved by regulators, with a further vaccine possibly coming next summer.

Hancock said the military and NHS staff are on standby to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine across the UK from the start of December and will work “seven days a week”, with GPs, new vaccination centres and pharmacists all playing a role.

Watch: How does the Oxford vaccine differ to Pfizer’s?

The health secretary said that once a vaccine becomes available, it will be delivered through care homes, GPs and pharmacists, as well as “go-to” vaccination centres set up in venues such as sports halls.

Pop-up vaccination clinics are also expected to be used in some areas.

Hancock said children would not need to have the vaccine and that it would be voluntary for adults.

It comes as the government announced that 532 more people had died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19, which is the highest figure reported in a single day since 12 May and brings the UK total to 49,770.

Read more: Coronavirus vaccine could be ready for Christmas – top UK government scientist

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