Covid-19: Vaccination targets could be exceeded, says Kate Bingham

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The UK may exceed its target of vaccinating 15 million people over the next six weeks, the former head of the country's Vaccine Taskforce has said.

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Kate Bingham told Radio 4's Political Thinking "relentless rehearsals" had taken place for the rollout, described by the PM as a huge national effort.

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She told Nick Robinson she hoped figures due next week on vaccination numbers would be "really positive".

People should be able to move more freely by the summer, she added.

On Friday, the UK reported a record daily toll of 1,325 deaths. Another 68,053 new cases were also recorded - the most on a single day since the start of the pandemic.

It comes as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency approved the Moderna vaccine.

The UK has ordered an extra 10 million doses of this vaccine, the third to be approved for use so far, taking the total Moderna order to 17 million, although supplies are not expected to arrive until the spring.

Around 1.5 million people in the UK have had at least one dose of Covid vaccine so far.

The prime minister has said the aim is to vaccinate 15 million people in the UK by mid-February, including care homes residents and staff, frontline NHS staff, everyone over 70 and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.

Responding to criticism of a slow roll-out of the vaccine so far, Kate Bingham - who left her role at the end of 2020 - suggested "constant attacks" by the media had been "very difficult".

Because of the need for speed in the vaccine roll-out, she said "you're compressing manufacturing processes that would normally take years to scale up and you're trying to do that in months".

"The want to get into the intricate detail by non-experts is not helpful and that's something that clearly dogs the government more generally," she said.

"But what I've seen is that then there is a reluctance to share information and then everyone thinks you must be hiding secrets," she said, adding that distrust from the public "worries me."

She urged people to wait to see the data next week "and I hope we will see some really positive news".

"I'm reasonably confident that these goals will be met and possibly exceeded because of the planning and the teams in place to do it," she added.

Asked why the UK could not vaccinate as quickly as Israel, which reported 12% of their citizens vaccinated on New Year's Day, Ms Bingham replied: "We have three devolved administrations plus England and we are large and diverse.

"If we were in a small country like Israel I'm sure we would be doing it just as quickly."

Ms Bingham said although she was confident the UK population would be able to move more freely by the summer, she cautioned that those planning holidays in Europe that the slower pace of vaccinations in other countries may disrupt holiday plans.

The UK's faster roll out of the vaccine was to do with the decision-making process of the regulator, the MHRA, she said. She explained "it had nothing to do with Brexit… but that we were organised".

Ms Bingham had her work praised by the prime minister before she left her role at the end of last year. While she was Chair of the Vaccine Taskforce, she oversaw procurement of 340 million doses of vaccine from various pharmaceutical companies globally.

She came under criticism in November 2020 over allegations relating to spending by the Vaccine Taskforce on public relations advisors. She was appointed chair of the Vaccine Taskforce in May 2020, an unpaid role.

The full podcast will be published on Friday and Political Thinking will also be broadcast on Radio 4 on Saturday at 5.30pm.