Matt Hancock Gets Emotional as the First COVID Vaccine Is Administered | Good Morning Britain

It's a very

good

day Matt Hancock and you have every reason to smile, I mean Margaret Keean is a pioneer, isn't she? She's just wonderful, isn't she? See the images of Margaret and then I've seen some other uh william shakespeare the second person uh and um and i it seems like such a small thing to just have that bump on the arm but it means so much because this is the route out of this pandemic and by God we need one and I think Margaret was absolutely brilliant and showed, you know everything, stoicism, everything that we should be, we should be proud of what we haven't had, we haven't had much to shout about this year, to put it mildly, in the way that that we have handled it.

This, but the fact that the

first

blows occur in the United Kingdom is something very important. I am very proud of the team that has made this happen. I'm so proud of them, they've worked so hard and not just hard, but really smart,

first

the team that discovered this was a really promising

vaccine

and we bought it early, we were the first country to place an order and then the regulator, Normally the regulators get criticized but the mhra have done a fantastic job because they have carried out all the safety checks that they always do, but they have carried them all out at the same time rather than one after the other, which has meant that we have been the first country in the world that you know and after this. year that has been so terrible for so many people and the sacrifices that people have made and the losses that we have all suffered to have this moment showing the way out is absolutely fantastic, it is an international collaborative effort, even though it is not.

It's because this is an American pharmacy, a pharmaceutical company, the scientists behind this were Turkish immigrants in Germany. It is manufactured in Belgium and then our regulator is the first to approve it. It is truly a multinational approach. Yes, I mean. I am very proud of science. You know, I've always believed that we would get to this moment. It may have seemed very distant and uncertain to me at times, but I have always believed that science would move forward and as you say, it is essentially global science and that it works across borders and we have made it possible.

You know it's down to human ingenuity and I hope it can restore the belief that we can overcome these things that are thrown at us. Yes, it is difficult and there have been a huge series of challenges and there are still challenges to come to vaccinate all those who are vulnerable to Covid, so it is a mammoth effort now for the NHS. Can I ask you about that? challenges of vaccinating everyone because you have repeatedly made it very clear that your priority list is nursing home residents, but this

vaccine

must be stored at such low temperatures that it would be impossible for nursing home residents to travel to the facilities to get vaccinated, is it true that they have actually slipped down the priority list because it is difficult to connect them to the vaccine or do they have a GPS to go to nursing homes as a priority?

Yes, our absolute priority is care home residents and their carers, of course their carers can travel so we will be vaccinated from today in the 70 hospital centers we have across the UK, but residents Nursing home residents generally can't travel very easily or safely, so we have to get the vaccine and it will take a couple more weeks to make sure we can do it safely because of these 70 minor requirements and because the details of the vaccine are only known, the full results of those trials have only been known for a couple of weeks, after having approved the vaccine for use in hospitals and, in principle, the NHS is working with the regulator to ensure that we have a safe way to get the vaccine to the community through GPS and pharmacists and to nursing homes.

I just want to play for a couple more weeks. I want to play a little clip of William Shakespeare who just said his first words. Let's listen to this. It could make a difference in our lives from now on and I guess it's been hard. so that you're home and you're locked up, yeah, well we've been pretty much locked down, my wife has managed to get out from time to time, I mean, just simple words, you react, you're very excited about it, well, that's how it's been, you know , it's been It was such a difficult year for so many people and William Shakespeare put it so simply for everyone that you know we can get on with our lives and you know I still a few months ago I still have this worry that we can't. blow it now we still have to get the vaccine to millions of people so we have to continue to follow the rules but you know a lot of work has gone into this and it really, really, that makes you I'm proud to be British and how strange that his name is William Shakespeare or maybe it wasn't a coincidence but it has to be related, isn't he from Warwickshire?

I mean, there must be. Let me ask who is called. It's definitely something for the NHS, but they've done a great job this

morning

and I'm sure there are a lot of people. In fact, we've had a lot of viewers who have been very excited to see this because it's not just the light at the end of the tunnel, it's us starting to get out of the tunnel, which is the crucial, um, potential problem here, the key to the world, maybe, of course, Brexit and if we went out without a deal, it could undo a lot of the

good

work that we've done with this, you know, there are reports that if we don't get a deal, medical supply lines can be affected in the worst case scenario, etc., what kind of guarantees have you obtained in terms of health? secretary that things like medical supply lines will not be negatively affected if we leave without a deal, we are ready for any scenario that they are in the talks, I have five different contingencies to get this vaccine to this country and they are there for all the eventualities, you know, it's December, so difficult weather eventualities, uh, and any problems that may arise, we have five contingencies, we are currently on plan a and everything is going well and I hope it continues, but if on the first of January we don't have an agreement, can you guarantee that this vaccine that is manufactured in Belgium will not be delayed because there is a huge queue at the border or because there is enormous paperwork and bureaucratic procedures to complete?

That's why we have five different contingencies, whichever way this vaccine goes, it goes through priority for obvious reasons, but even if the priority channels didn't work, then we can put it on different routes and ultimately we have the backup plan to bring it through the military, so we have five different routes, uh, because obviously I want to make sure that this precious, precious product can be brought in under any circumstances, so we have a plan for all of that. How sure are you that we're going to do it? let's get a deal because let's be brutally honest with everyone here, I don't think anyone when they voted to leave imagined that we would do it because of all the rhetoric they had heard without a trade deal with the EU, that was not the reason why people voted to leave.

We figured we'd have confidence that you were going to get one. Well, of course, we already have the withdrawal agreement by which we left the EU. That's not a trade deal, but isn't it a trade deal? That's right, so we have the retreat. agreement by which we leave the EU and the prime minister is doing everything possible to secure a future trade agreement, that is why he is prepared to go to Brussels, he is training all his muscles to get that agreement, but we are prepared for any eventuality and obviously a deal has to respect the fact that we have left the EU and we are a sovereign nation uh and um uh you know, so everyone it would be better for the UK it would be better for the EU if we got a deal, uh and uh, but we are ready for any final question that will eventually be okay.

The nurse who

administered

the first vaccine, May Parsons, is Filipino, one of almost 20,000 Filipinos working in the NHS, and she gave a very moving answer about how. How much did it mean to her to be a part of her story? How much would it mean to everyone in the Philippines to be part of global history? What would you like to say to her and all immigrant NHS staff? Well, I want to say, Say thank you. I am very proud of May and the role she has played. Last night I met some of the nurses who are going to be the ones who will be administering the vaccine today this

morning

.

I am very proud of everyone who works at the nhs the nhs is a global employer, people come from all over the world to work at the nhs, not just in the philippines but elsewhere, and I am very proud of the team we have and What do they do. an incredible job and her calling is to help people, care for them and protect them, which is exactly what May is doing for Margaret right there on the screen right now. I am very proud of the entire NHS team. Well, we've been hitting it for most of the year, Health Secretary, today is one of those days where we say good job, good job rolling out this vaccine in this country, so congratulations to you and the team for getting us to this stage now.

The pressure is on for him to reach millions of people and we wish him every success in doing so, because if he is successful, he will save lives and we will all benefit.