The mass-immunisation programme will help take the pressure off the NHS but hospital admissions would not fall as quickly. The Health Secretary’s remarks came after he was left red-faced on a visit to a London GP surgery for the vaccine rollout – but the delivery of vials did not arrive.
Mr Hancock told MPs he was confident jabs would be administered on schedule and their effect would help the country get back on its feet.
He said: “I am as confident as you can be…that the number of deaths in this country will fall at any given number of cases once the vaccine is rolled out to the vulnerable groups.
“We are aiming for this by the 15th of February for everyone in cohorts one to four.”
However, Mr Hancock said hospital numbers may not fall as quickly.
He explained: “People that are slightly younger spend longer in hospital, often because they survive when somebody who is very old and frail might not.”
Asked if thought the current lockdown would be the last, the minister replied: “I do. Yes.”
But he said the UK would “probably need to revaccinate” people for continuing protection.
That could happen as often as every six months due to uncertainty over the longevity of protection from current vaccines.
Some 1.3 million people have received at least one jab in the UK so far.
