The Adam Smith Institute has today published a paper on how to implement an Israeli-style deployment to deliver vaccines at a greater pace. The paper notes that every additional week of the pandemic costs the taxpayer £6 billion, while reducing economic activity by £5 billion. In order to end it, the paper insists Government has to fully utilise the private sector, armed forces, and volunteers. Israel is currently vaccinating ten times faster than the UK.

From drive-in vaccine centres and 24/7 sites, to immediate approval of the Moderna vaccine, prizes for best employees and centres, and home delivery kits for diabetics who already self-inject – there is a lot here for policy makers to take up. The paper recommends boosting jab targets to six million doses per week, and to go even higher once that target is reached. Guido’s own suggestion is to turn now available empty schools and pubs into local vaccination centres.

Read how below:

1. Fully call up the Armed Forces and reservists with expertise in field hospitals
   and logistics.
2. Commission pharmacies with pre-existing venues and skills in administering
   vaccinations, as is done in the annual flu vaccination programme.
3. Use closed hospitality and other venues such as hotels, which are equipped with commercial grade refrigeration to store the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, with support from local medical professionals.
4. Use public venues, like places of worship, public housing, community centres, school gyms etc., with support from local medical professionals.
5. Create drive-in centres, as have been successfully deployed in Israel.
6. Launch mobile vaccination centres, to ensure vaccines can be provided to
   more remote and harder to reach communities.
7. Provide 24/7 vaccination services with Government subsidising overtime and
   late shifts.
8. Allow walk-in services for “spare” appointments and doses, so any gaps or
   unused doses are used.
9. Extend criteria immediately include all priority group individuals, including
   those aged over 55 and younger with vulnerabilities, to ensure maximum use of
   available doses.
10. Accelerate and expand use of the “Jabs Army” and volunteers, to provide
    sufficient vaccinators and logistics staffing.
11. Simplify staff onboarding requirements, to avoid needless hindrance to
    volunteering.
12. Increase payments to GPs and local health professionals per vaccination, to
    ensure maximum possible effort dedicated to vaccinations.
13. Develop an online booking platforms, to maximise the booking of
    appointment slots.
14. Reward attendance at vaccination appointments if “no-shows” proves to
    become a bottleneck, with cash rewards (at traditional centres) or shared
    rewards (at repurposed hospitality venues, like a takeaway pint).
15. Online delivery of home injection kits for those willing and able to do so (e.g.
    diabetics who currently self-administer injections, accompanied by a self
    assessment and video supervision to mitigate risks.
16. Launch a marketing campaigns to encourage appointment booking.
17. Award prizes for best employees and centres, to identify and reward best
    practice and vaccinating at higher rates.
18. Crowdsource ideas, from both the country broadly and from staff on the front
    line about how to accelerate vaccine delivery, including financial rewards for
    ideas that are introduced.
19. Clarify delivery schedules and negotiation of increasingly rapid supplies for
    the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines.
20. Provide market commitments for input materials, such as glass vials, to
    remove any supply bottlenecks.
21. Immediately approve the Moderna vaccine for order and distribution, given its
    approval by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, while UK processes complete;
    and,
22. Proactively plan for and stock the Novavax vaccine, pending completion of its
    phase 3 clinical trials and UK approval processes.