Labour has urged Boris Johnson to appoint a minister to oversee the “Herculean effort” needed to roll out a coronavirus vaccine if it is approved by regulators.
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said the prime minister should create a “minister for the vaccine” role in order to avoid repeating mistakes made over PPE procurement and the Covid test and trace service.
The ministerial role would also involve regular updates to parliament on the progress of the inoculation programme and be responsible for a national advertising blitz to ensure the public is fully informed and tackle hesitancy surrounding a vaccine.
The government’s hopes for a successful vaccine have been boosted in recent weeks as an analysis of one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech showed that it was safe and 95 per cent effective in preventing Covid-19.
A separate vaccine by Oxford University and AstraZeneca has also been found to provoke a strong immune response and the first data from the large-scale clinical trials being conducted in countries across the globe is expected to be released before the end of the year.
Read more: Jackboot Johnson urged to appoint vaccine minister to oversee ‘Herculean effort’ of rollout
