Covid-19 Update

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Matt Hancock

Monday 19th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

As I said to the right hon. Member for Leicester South (Jonathan Ashworth), my approach was and is that local NHS employers are best placed to decide.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con) [V]]

Rugby’s primary care network-led vaccination centre at Locke House has provided over 34,000 first and 11,000 second doses to JCVI groups 1 to 9 through a fantastic team of staff and volunteers. The GPs, however, have chosen not to take part in phase 2 of the programme, and the centre is expected to close in mid-July as a consequence. Our local doctors would prefer to vaccinate groups 10 to 12 in their own surgeries, although that option is not currently available to them. What can the Secretary of State do to facilitate that approach to the important task of vaccinating the under-50s?

[Matt Hancock]

I will look into that question, which has not been raised before. Generally, the use of a primary care network—a group of GP practices—to come together to offer one centre has worked really well. That is the first I have heard of that concern, so I will take it away and ensure that it is looked at properly.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, absolutely. While I am so proud of the work that we have done in this United Kingdom to develop the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and to buy vaccines from around the world that are safe and effective, so that we are able to vaccinate everybody here at home, I am also cognisant of the fact that vaccination around the world will be necessary. I was very pleased to see that COVAX started vaccinating in Ghana last week. It currently looks as if we may have excess vaccines in the future, and we have clearly committed that we will make them available around the world.

We know for sure that we seek to vaccinate with two doses every adult in the UK. There may well be a need for a third vaccination over the autumn against variants, and there is currently a clinical trial considering the vaccination of under-18s. So the exact number of vaccines that we will need for the UK population is not yet known, but we are keen to ensure that we then go on to support, with vaccines and with the money that we have already pledged, the vaccination of the most underdeveloped parts of the world.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con) [V]]

The Secretary of State knows how well the vaccination programme is going here in Warwickshire, and his remarks at Friday’s national briefing were greatly appreciated here. Many of the residents being vaccinated at Locke House in Rugby have asked me about the road back to normality, and some have asked about getting some sun on a foreign holiday. Could he say something about any plans the Government are considering for people wishing to travel both at home and abroad to be able to demonstrate that they have received their vaccination through some form of certification?

[Matt Hancock]

Coventry and Warwickshire have done an amazing job, and I was very pleased to see them top the ranks published on Thursday of the areas of England that have vaccinated the most. I congratulate my hon. Friend and his team.

On foreign holidays, we said in the road map that international holidays will not be allowed before 17 May. We are working with the global travel taskforce, which met this lunchtime, just before I came to the House. It is chaired by my right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary. I am on it, along with Home Office and Foreign Office colleagues and representatives from the travel industry—from the airlines, cruise ships and others. That will report by 12 April. Last year, international travel restrictions were about restricting the number of cases due to high prevalence elsewhere when the prevalence here was low. The challenge now is that we have to take into consideration the risks from variants of concern, which means that more understanding about the impact of vaccines on variants of concern, such as the one first discovered in Manaus in Brazil that we were talking about earlier, is critical to answering the question of when we will be able safely to reopen international travel.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 2nd February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The hon. Gentleman was doing so well: I agreed with all of what he was saying until the last bit. Of course the Prime Minister is going to go around the country and thank people for what they are doing. We just heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Dewsbury (Mark Eastwood) about the very positive impact the Prime Minister had during his visit to Dewsbury. I know that people across Scotland were very enthusiastic to see the Prime Minister visiting Scotland to say thank you to those working in the labs, on the testing and on the vaccinations. Perhaps the Prime Minister will come to Huddersfield and the brilliant vaccination centre there. If he cannot make it, perhaps I should go there, with the hon. Gentleman, to say a great big thanks. Travelling around the country to thank people for their efforts is an important part of keeping the nation going in these difficult times.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con) [V]]

There is more positive news because among the half a million vaccinations provided across the country last Saturday were 750 at Locke House in Rugby, where more than 11,000 have already been given and priority groups 1 to 4 will be completed ahead of schedule by this time next week. Will the Secretary of State thank the GPs and everyone involved in this achievement, particularly the 100 or so volunteers at the site, who have turned out for long shifts in all weathers, led by the inspirational centre manager, Gita Natarajan? Could he say a little more about the steps being taken to ensure that the second dose of the vaccine will be of the same variety as the first?

[Matt Hancock]

I have always loved Rugby, and the idea that Rugby is going to deliver on everyone in categories 1 to 4 having an offer of a jab a week early is music to my ears. I am delighted to hear about it. I can absolutely confirm that we have confidence in the supplies of vaccine to ensure that everybody can get a second jab of the vaccination they had the first time, unless there is a specific clinical reason not to; that would happen only in very rare circumstances. The plan is that you get the same jab second time around as you got the first.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Matt Hancock

Tuesday 10th November 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

That is a very good question from the Chair of the Public Accounts Committee—I would expect nothing less. The critical answer to how long this takes is that it depends on the speed of manufacture in the first instance. My goal, and the goal I have set the NHS, is to be able to roll this out as quickly as it can be manufactured. That manufacturing schedule is uncertain because this is really hard stuff to make. We have got the Major Projects Authority in the Government involved in many of the projects that we have built up in the Department over the past nine months, because I respect its views and its ability to kick the tyres. The roll-out of the vaccine is a huge endeavour, but it builds on the annual roll-out of the flu vaccine—it is just bigger and needs to be done faster.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

The past few months have been a rollercoaster ride for families, businesses and public services as they have tried to make plans for the future. The Secretary of State has rightly spoken of the need for caution about the role of the vaccine, but I think what my constituents would like to hear from him, if he is able to say, is when they can safely start to consider family events and holidays and when businesses will be able to get back to something like business as usual.

[Matt Hancock]

I understand the yearning for certainty. All I can say to my hon. Friend, in honesty, is that I want us to get back to normal as quickly as possible, and yesterday’s news is a big step forward, but it is not the only step. There are more steps that are needed. The scientists are now offering views on that sort of timetable, but the Government’s view is that we must make this happen as quickly as possible and be ready to roll out as fast as any safe vaccine can be manufactured, but we will not put safety at risk. That is a lodestar of the programme and therefore we have to await the clinical safety sign-off before we can take this to the next stage.

Covid-19 Update

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Matt Hancock

Programme motion
Monday 19th October 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

The hon. Lady raises a point that is heart-rending and important, as is the protection of care home residents from this disease. The situation is not quite as she said, in that we have different restrictions in different areas according to local circumstances, with a great deal of delegated authority to the local director of public health to make judgments on the extraordinarily difficult balance between allowing visitors—for exactly the sorts of reasons she set out—and protecting people who live in care homes from catching the disease. When the case rate is high in the community, that naturally increases the risk in care homes, not just because of visitors but because the staff working in care homes live in the community. I am sure she will agree that the best thing we can do is to keep the prevalence of coronavirus down, because that will help to protect the people in care homes as well.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

This time last week, I think the whole House welcomed the introduction by the Prime Minister of the three covid alert levels to provide some certainty about the levels at which measures would be introduced and what measures would apply in a given area. Rugby is currently on a downward trajectory, with fewer than 100 cases per 100,000, so can my right hon. Friend reassure my constituents that by sticking to the rules, we will remain in tier 1?

[Matt Hancock]

Yes. One of the advantages of the tier system is that it not only involves a clear set of actions that need to be taken if the cases go up, as happened in London last week, but also helps to motivate people in level 1 areas that in order to stay in level 1, the best thing to do is to follow the rules, to respect social distancing and to play their part in the reduction of the spread of the virus. Everybody who is living in a level 1 area can help to do their bit to stay in level 1 by following the rules on hands, face and space and following social distancing. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point that out for Rugby, but the point applies right across the whole of England in areas covered by level 1.

Coronavirus Response

Debate between Mark Pawsey and Matt Hancock

Monday 20th July 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

I am glad to say that the vast majority of people respond positively to the public health messages that we have been putting out throughout, and it is a very important part of the policy.

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

The Secretary of State reminded us of the importance of a vaccine. I was interested to hear on the radio as I drove into Parliament today a representative of a drug company saying that we might have a vaccine by October and a doctor based at a university telling us that today is a great day. Does the Secretary of State agree?

[Matt Hancock]

I am cautiously optimistic. The team are optimistic. My job is not to speculate on the likelihood of the Oxford vaccine coming off. It is to make sure that, should it come off, we are ready.