Newspaper headlines: NHS 'vaccine vow' and GP services 'to be cut'
By BBC News Staff
Published
image captionWednesday's front pages focus on the health service's plans to deliver a coronavirus vaccination to the nation. The Times claims a million people a week could be vaccinated as the NHS looks to ensure "a jab is administered as quickly as it is manufactured".
image caption"Don't screw it up" is the headline in the Metro, which quotes a member of the government's vaccine task force, Sir John Bell, as saying life could be back to normal by Easter providing the government "don't screw up" distributing the vaccine. The paper says he told MPs there was a 70 to 80% chance the pandemic could be over by spring.
image captionThe health secretary says the military is on standby, along with NHS staff, to roll out the first doses of a vaccine from next month, according to the i newspaper. It also carries a warning from experts that the logistical operation will be "unprecedented" in its scale and complexity.
image captionThe Daily Express leads on a vow from the NHS that "it is ready" to deliver millions of anti-Covid injections "round the clock" before Christmas. It quotes Prof Stephen Powis, NHS medical director, who says that "despite the complexities" the NHS will be ready "from day one".
image captionThe Daily Telegraph calls it "one of the biggest immunisation drives in British history", saying the NHS has been instructed to prepare for mass Covid vaccinations of the public from 1 December. It says retired doctors and medical students will be drafted in as part of the plans to offer jabs at GP practices and drive-through centres which will be open for 12 hours a day.
image captionGP services will be cut back well into next year to enable doctors to carry out a mass Covid immunisation programme, claims the Guardian. It says health leaders have warned that family doctors will not be able to offer their full range of care from next month because doctors and nurses will be "immersed in administering jabs".
image captionThe Daily Mail leads on its own vaccine poll, which it claims shows that three in four Britons say they would have a Covid jab, including nine in 10 elderly people. Only 7% said they would not have it under any circumstances, it adds.
image captionFor the Daily Star, the focus is on the reaction from Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid to the news of a vaccine - the paper says she had a "When Harry Met Sally moment" as she held up its cheeky "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" headline from yesterday.
image captionAway from coronavirus, the Daily Mirror claims that criminals are feared to have been working in children's homes to recruit kids as drug runners. The paper says its own investigation found that four workers have been quizzed by police.
image captionAnd finally, Amazon has been hit with competition charges by the EU over the way it has handled sellers' data, reports the Financial Times. It says the online retailer has been accused of boosting its own-label products and services.