Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed as a new health minister to oversee rollout of the Covid vaccine in England.
The rollout is expected to begin before Christmas, subject to regulatory approval.
Mr Zahawi, MP for Stratford-on-Avon, will oversee distribution of the vaccine until at least next summer.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was “delighted”, adding in a tweet there was “an enormous task ahead”.
Under the interim arrangement, Mr Zahawi will serve as a joint minister between the health department and the business department, where he currently works.
His primary focus will be on delivering the vaccine, with most areas of his business portfolio put aside.
In a tweet, Mr Zahawi welcomed his new post but said the rollout would be a “big responsibility and a big operational challenge”.
He added that he was “absolutely committed to making sure we can roll out vaccines quickly – saving lives and livelihoods and helping us #buildbackbetter”.
The MP will look after deployment of the vaccine in England only, but will work with the devolved administrations on their chosen approach. Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be responsible for the vaccine’s distribution in their relevant nations.
Currently, the UK government has placed orders for 100 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, 40 million doses of the vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech and five million doses from US firm Moderna.
Rolling out the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine may pose the greatest challenge as it needs to be stored at minus 70C, raising potential difficulties with transport and storage. (BBC)
