Milton Keynes set to declare 'major incident' over Covid today

And the official declaration could mean MK gets the Oxford vaccine rolled out more swiftly.

The major incident is due to be declared by the Thames Valley Local Resilience Forum, which represents local authorities, emergency services, NHS, health bodies and government agencies.

Its role is to warn, inform and advise the public in the event of an emergency.

The forum has established a Strategic Coordinating Group (SCG) in response to Covid-19. This enables.local authorities, healthcare providers and emergency services jointly develop a combined response to the current rapidly evolving situation across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and Oxfordshire.

A major incident has been declared in the rest of Buckinghamshire last week amid fears the number of Covid cases could overwhelm the county's health services

An announcement about Milton Keynes is expected very shortly.

Already MK Council leader Pete Marland has said he will demand an immediate roll-out of the new Oxford vaccine in MK once the city has major incident status.

"I want to see the vaccine rolled out in our schools, to both staff and pupils, before they re-open," he told the Citizen.