Britain expands coronavirus vaccination program that has seen nearly 6 million people receive the first of two doses – even as the country’s death toll from the pandemic approaches nearly 100,000
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday that three-quarters of people over 80 in the UK have been shot. He said three-quarters of nursing home residents have also received their first injection.
Nearly 5.9 million doses of the vaccine were given by Saturday. Health officials aim to give the first vaccine to 15 million people, including everyone over 70, by February 15, and cover the entire adult population by September.
Britain introduces people with two vaccines – one made by US pharma company Pfizer and German company BioNTech, the other by UK-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca and Oxford University. It has a third license, developed by Moderna.
It is given at doctors’ offices, hospitals, pharmacies and vaccination centers set up in conference halls, sports grounds and other large centers. Thirty other venues are opening this week, including the former IKEA store and a museum of business history which was used as a set for the TV show “Peaky Blinders.”
The British vaccination campaign is a rare success in a country with the worst coronavirus outbreak in Europe. The UK has recorded 97,329 deaths among people who tested positive, including 1,348 new deaths reported on Saturday.
The UK is set within days to become the fifth country in the world to record 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico – and numbers are much higher all of them more than 67 million people in Britain.
Some health experts have questioned the Conservative government’s decision to increase the two vaccine doses up to 12 weeks apart, instead of the recommended three weeks, in order to offer their first dose quickly.
AstraZeneca has stated that it believes the first dose of its vaccine offers protection after 12 weeks but Pfizer says it has not tested the effectiveness of its kick after such a long gap.
The British Medical Association says the government should “urgently review the policy.
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