THE first dose of the new Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has been given this morning to an 82 year old dialysis patient, Brian Pinker, in Oxford.

Speaking in a television interview this morning, Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the UK government will reduce the amount of bureaucracy needed and “streamline” the process to allow retired doctors to help with the rollout of the vaccine across the country.

Just over half a million doses of the vaccine will be available from today, with the roll out beginning at a small number of hospitals, followed by wider delivery of the vaccine via GP practices from later this week.

In East Cornwall, operations manager for the East Cornwall Primary Care Network, which manages nine GP practices in the district, is Paula Varndell-Dawes.

She said that the network was awaiting the final details of the rollout from the NHS.

Patients would be called in for vaccines, based on the priority groups announced by the Government, she said, adding that the initial roll out of the Oxford Astra Zeneca vaccine had been designated for secondary care hubs (hospitals).

The latest data for Cornwall has shown a dramatic increase in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases and it is expected that the rate will continue to rise in the coming weeks, after the short relaxation of rules for Christmas.

The 7-day average is now 176 per 100k, with cases doubling in the past 7 days.