On Tuesday, the U.K. National Health Service will launch the first Western mass coronavirus immunization program, with the elderly and care home staff first in line for the jab.

After approval by the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on December 2, the first doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine arrived in the United Kingdom. Belgium and 50 vaccines "hubs" have been set up in hospitals. The NHS states that the first to receive the vaccine will be individuals over 80 who visit the hospital as outpatients and those who are released from the hospital.

The NHS said today in a statement that hospitals will also start inviting others over 80 for vaccination and that it would "work with care home providers" to book their employees into vaccination clinics.

While care home residents were supposed to be among the first to receive a vaccine, the government said on December 4 that it was "challenging" to bring the vaccine to residents and specifics have not yet been released on how this would work. Instead in the hospital hubs, only care home employees will be able to be vaccinated.

The group vaccination by general practitioner-led networks will start on a small scale from the week beginning December 14.

There is a need to store the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine at minus 70 degrees Celsius. It can then be thawed out and stored for up to five days in a refrigerator.