Downing Street has confirmed a timetable of early May for all UK adults aged 50 and older to be offered a first coronavirus vaccination, but only after it emerged in a government document that No 10 initially said was inaccurate and had been withdrawn.
No 10 had previously said only that the target for offering initial vaccinations to the first nine groups of people, phase 1 of the programme, was “spring”, refusing repeatedly to be more precise.
But a Cabinet Office document published yesterday, setting out plans to hold elections in England on May 6, said phase 1 was expected to have been completed before then.
“Our public health response – not least the vaccination programme, which we plan will have reached all nine priority cohorts by May – means that we can commit to go ahead with these polls with confidence,” Chloe Smith, the Cabinet Office minister responsible for elections, said in a foreword to the plans.
In sometimes confusing exchanges, asked about the date at the daily briefing for political journalists the prime minister’s deputy spokesperson initially said of the document: “This was issued in error, and I believe the Cabinet Office have now withdrawn this.”
Several minutes later, he corrected himself, saying: “It isn’t actually being withdrawn.” He then conceded: “The Cabinet Office document is correct – what it says is correct – and the prime minister will set out more details on February 15.”
Asked to confirm the May date, however, he repeatedly said: “As you know, and as the PM has repeatedly said, our ambition is to offer all priority cohorts a vaccination by spring. I’m not going to put a further timeline on this.”
The date for phase 1 of the vaccination programme is key, as any programme for reopening the economy depends on how long it takes to offer vaccinations to the groups who are most vulnerable to coronavirus.
Over recent days there have been other confusing exchanges at the daily Downing Street media briefing in which reporters have attempted to pin down what ministers mean by spring.
While the expected timetable for people to be offered vaccinations is of great interest to the public, Downing Street has been wary in committing to schedules beyond the target of offering first vaccinations to all older care home residents and staff by the end of January – which was largely met – and to have done the same for the first four most vulnerable groups, as far as those aged 70-plus and clinically extremely vulnerable people, by mid-February.
One reason for caution is the sense inside No 10 that Boris Johnson has previously overpromised in terms of timetables for a return to more normal life.
Another caveat is that while the current speed of vaccinations is sufficiently fast to meet a May deadline – more than 2.5mn doses have been delivered in both of the last two weeks – this is dependent on continued supply of the two vaccines.