The UK’s vaccine approach isn’t ‘anti-science’

In order to vaccinate as many people as possible, the government has decided to change the length of time between the first jab and the second. What’s more, there has even been a suggestion that — in exceptional circumstances — the NHS could use a different vaccine for the second jab from the one used in the first. Cue a wave of criticism, not least from medical professionals and academics, concerned the government is pushing for something different to what the science suggests. The New York Times reported that the government’s decision had ‘confounded’ experts, while the MP Claudia Webbe called the move ‘dangerously anti-science’.

Under their licences — the guidance that sets out how an approved drug should be used — the vaccines should be administered in two separate doses, three to four weeks apart. The government is suggesting an interval of 12 weeks, arguing that such a move will spread the benefits of protection more broadly and bring us closer to ending this crisis.