These are the groups of people who will be prioritised for a Covid vaccine

As news emerges of a major breakthrough in the search for a coronavirus vaccine, with the jab from Pfizer found to be more than 90% effective - who would receive a vaccination first?

Preliminary analysis of the first Covid-19 vaccine shows that it can prevent more than 90 per cent of people from getting the virus.

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American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German technology company BioNTech, the two developers, described the results as a “great day for science and humanity”.

Last month, Kate Bingham, the head of the UK’s vaccine taskforce, announced that less than half of the nation’s population could be vaccinated against coronavirus.

Ms Bingham said officials hope to give the vaccine to around 30 million adults, which equates to less than half of the UK’s 67 million population.

She told the Financial Times, "People keep talking about 'time to vaccinate the whole population' but that is misguided.

"There is going to be no vaccination of people under 18.

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"It's an adult-only vaccine for people over 50 focusing on health workers and care home workers and the vulnerable."

The UK government has currently come up with a provisional ranking of the prioritisation of the Covid-19 vaccine, when one becomes available.

Who will be prioritised?

The prioritisation for Covid-19 vaccines is currently provisional, and is based on preliminary information on the vaccines in development and provisional timelines for vaccine availability, according to the Gov.uk website. It is also subject to change.

The committee behind the prioritisation of the vaccine agreed that it was not possible to come to a firm position on priority groups at this time, but the committee also strongly agreed that an age-based programme will likely result in both faster delivery and better uptake in those at the highest risk.

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However, the following is a provisional ranking of prioritisation for persons at-risk:

Older adults’ resident in a care home and care home workersAll those 80 years of age and over and health and social care workersAll those 75 years of age and overAll those 70 years of age and overAll those 65 years of age and overHigh-risk adults under 65 years of ageModerate-risk adults under 65 years of ageAll those 60 years of age and overAll those 55 years of age and overAll those 50 years of age and overRest of the population (priority to be determined)

The UK government does note that the prioritisation could substantially change if the first available vaccines were not considered suitable for, or effective in, older adults.

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