GPs will be “geared up to start by Christmas if the vaccine becomes available”, he said. He told the Today programme: “There are over 200 vaccines in development and we believe that we should hopefully get one or more of those available from the first part of next year.“In anticipation of that we’re also gearing the NHS up to be ready to make a start on administering Covid vaccines before Christmas, if they become available.“We reached an agreement with GPs to ensure they will be doing that, and we’ll be writing to GP practices this week to get them geared up to start by Christmas if the vaccine becomes available.”.