Dame Joan Bakewell Threatens To Sue The Government Over Second Pfizer Jab Delay

DAME JOAN BAKEWELL Threatens To Sue The Government Over Second Pfizer Jab Delay from 21 days to 12 Weeks

Baroness Dame Joan Bakewell, the 87-year-old TV presenter, journalist, and labour life-peer, is threatening to take legal action against the Government after they decided to delay the second dose injection of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine from 21 days, now up to 12 weeks.

Bakewell claims the decision is unlawful and has instructed law firm, Leigh Day, to start proceedings against the government, naming Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary as the respondent.

The letter from Leigh Day, marked, “Urgent: Proposed claim for judicial review”, says, “Our client is fully supportive of the national effort to meet the exceptional challenges posed by the pandemic. Our client is, however, concerned that the Government’s instruction to delay the provision of the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine is potentially unlawful and unsafe, and would therefore impede rather than advance the pandemic response”.

The letter goes on to list three grounds for potential judicial review, including a breach of the conditions of the authorisation, claiming that delaying the second dose seems “contrary to the instructions for use” agreed between the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which is the regulator, and the manufacturer, Pfizer.

The second issue raised is that it “does not appear there was a proper or lawful basis for the Government to depart from the MHRA’s assessment of the vaccine”.

And the third issue listed is a “breach of legitimate expectations”, where the patients who consented to the first injection, did so on the understanding they would receive the second dose just 21 days later.

The government changed its schedule in order to try to get the first dose of the vaccine to as many people as possible, on the recommendation of the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI).

The Baroness had her first dose of the vaccine in December, and said, “Older people are in limbo, they need to know whether delaying the Pfizer vaccine is both safe and legal. I am bringing this case because I believe the Government needs to make this clear”.

Pfizer has said, “The safety and efficacy of the vaccine has not been evaluated on different dosing schedule, there is no data to demonstrate that protection after the first dose is sustained after 21 days”.

While the World Health Organisation (WHO) said, “there is very little empiric data from the trials that underpin this type of recommendation”.

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