Hancock says he will publish a mental health white paper next week. It will take forward many of the recommendations in the Simon Wessely report. He says he wants to legislate in this parliament. The new law will replace the 1983 Mental Health Act. He hopes there will be cross-party support for this.
Q: What is the plan if a variant comes along that is immune to the vaccine?
Hancock says, if you have a vaccine platform, and you only need to make small adjustments to it, then it should not need to start the regulatory process all over again.
He compares this to having a Range Rover, and changing the wing mirror. That does not mean you have a new car. It is still a Range Rover, he says.
Q: How many vaccines do you hope to deliver by mid-February to people in the top four priority groups?
Hancock says he would like take-up to be 100%.
People will be “offered to have had the vaccine” by 15 February. That is the target, he says. He says the government cannot claim to have met the target just by offering people a date for a jab before 15 February.
He says the target specifies an “offer” because the government cannot force people to take the vaccine.
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Q: There was a doubling of still births in the last lockdown. Will shielding go before 28 weeks?
Hancock says that is a clinical matter.
Q: Prof Whitty says we need to have a discussion about what the level of acceptable risk would be. Is the government having that discussion?
Hancock says we need to have a discussion about that. Parliament, and this committee, will have a role to play in that, he says.
Q: Are you worried about people’s behaviour changing as more and more people get vaccinated?
Hancock says generally people have been complying with the rules.
As vulnerable people are protected, he says he hopes people will continue to follow the rules.
Q: What is the risk of the NHS being overwhelmed? 10% 50%?
Hancock says it is impossible to put a figure on it. As pressure on the NHS grows, it becomes more stretched.
Q: Will the NHS be able to cope in London?
Hancock says he has faith in the NHS. Critical care capacity has been expanded. And the Nightingale is available, he says. Reports that it was decommissioned were wrong, he says.
Q: Why is there no dashboard available providing local information about vaccinations?
Hancock says, as the programme expands, more and more information will be released.
Hancock says he is a big fan of community pharmacies.
But he says they were not involved in plans to use the Pfizer vaccine because it has to be stored at -70C.
He says he is confident they have enough delivery sites coming on stream. And he says there will be a big role for community pharmacies to play as the AstraZeneca vaccine is rolled out.
Q: What is happening with mass testing?
Hancock says this will continue to be important, as will the self-isolation going with it.
Q: You say people in the top four priority groups for vaccination account for 80% of all deaths. Does that mean, when they are vaccinated, deaths will fall by 80%?
Hancock says he has two caveats. First, after vaccination, it takes time for the vaccine to take effect. And, second, deaths lag behind infections.
But he says he is confident that deaths will fall once the vaccinations have taken place.
Q: What will you do to help ensure people who need cannabis medicine, like Alfie Dingley, can still get it after Brexit?
Hancock says he is looking at this. The problem has been caused by a decision taken by the Dutch government, he says. He says they are looking to see if there is a quick legal fix. In the long term he would like a permanent solution, he says.
Q: Why did you not hold a press conference to announce the change to the vaccination policy? Some experts are unhappy about the plan to delay the second dose.
Hancock says there was a press conference on the day this was announced.
He says there has been a lot of communication about the reason for this. Ultimately it “saves more lives”, he says.
He says the data show that both the Oxford and Pfizer jobs provide significant protection after the first dose.
This document explains the case for this decision in more detail.
Q: Why don’t we insist on people flying into the country having a pre-flight test?
Hancock says measures are targeted. For example, there are specific restrictions on arrivals from South Africa, as there were for Denmark.
Q: Couldn’t we have taken that decision on the Thursday or Friday the previous week?
Hancock says the government did act quickly.
He says in the week before the data was less clear. But as the post-Christmas data came through, the picture became clearer.
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Matt Hancock questioned by MPs
The Commons health committee is now taking evidence from Matt Hancock, the health secretary.
Jeremy Hunt, the committee chair, asks why the lockdown was not announced more quickly.
Hancock says the government had already tightened restrictions. On 4 January it was clear further action was needed. And that was the day the chief medical officers put the alert level up.
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