Army will fly vaccines to remote rural areas stranded by flooding to keep rollout on track

Newspapers, including The Sun and The Telegraph, have reported that specialist teams from the Armed Forces are on stand-by to fly COVID-19 vaccines to remote rural areas of the country in helicopters if winter storms or floods delay the mass vaccination plan

Twenty-one Quick Reaction Force teams comprising six doctors, nurses and vaccinators from the Army will be able to fly vaccines to rural and hard-to-reach areas of England to administer them to local communities from Monday when the NHS's vaccine deployment plan is published.

The Armed Forces are also assisting Welsh' health boards with vaccinations while talks are now underway with devolved administrations in Scotland and Northern Ireland about expanding the mobile vaccination service there beyond just planning and logistics.

The new units are expected to be sent across England whenever and wherever they are needed as the Government prepares for the possibility of winter and spring floods which could threaten the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.

Full articles:

The Telegraph - Army stands by to help the NHS deliver to flooded areas

The Sun - Army will fly vaccines to remote rural areas stranded by flooding to keep rollout on track