The UK's Covid vaccination programme was 'an extraordinary feat' which developed and delivered protective jabs in record time, but work is now needed to rebuild trust in vaccines and ensure better access before the next pandemic, an official inquiry has found.
Heather Hallett, chair of the statutory inquiry into the pandemic, said the vaccine rollout and the identification of an inexpensive steroid that saved thousands of UK patients were 'two of the success stories' of the pandemic. The UK was the first country to authorise a Covid jab, and by 2021 about 132 million shots had been given across the four nations.
Despite the successes, Hallett said there were lessons to be learned. Uptake was low in some ethnic minority communities and areas of high deprivation, and a lack of trust in authority contributed to vaccine hesitancy. The report urges ministers and health services to rebuild trust and promote better understanding of vaccines.
Hallett also called for restructuring the vaccine damage payment scheme, urging ministers to almost double maximum payouts to at least £200,000 and scrap the 60% disability threshold for eligibility. Kate Scott, representing the Vaccine Injured and Bereaved UK group, welcomed the recommendations as 'an important step towards fairness'.
