LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is about to immunize its most vulnerable people against COVID-19 in mid-February and offer an injection to all adults by fall, with about 2 million people having already received the vaccine. first dose, said his health secretary. on Sunday.
“Last week, we vaccinated more people than in the whole of December, so we are accelerating implementation,” Matt Hancock told BBC TV.
Britain is fighting the outbreak of infections, but is betting on a rapid immunization to allow life to return to some degree of normalcy in the spring.
Hancock said that about 2 million people have already received their first injection of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
“We have already vaccinated about a third of all people over 80, so (we are making) very, very good progress,” he said.
For the government to meet its goal of vaccinating more than 14 million people by mid-February, comprising people over 70, the clinically vulnerable – the elderly or those with pre-existing diseases – and health and healthcare professionals. social assistance, he needs to deliver 2 million shots a week.
The current rate is around 200,000 per day, said Hancock.
Seven mass vaccination centers will open this week, complementing nearly 1,000 surgeries from doctors and hospitals offering vaccines. Hancock said that each adult will receive a vaccine until the fall.
Queen Elizabeth and her husband Philip, both in their nineties, received vaccinations, Buckingham Palace said on Saturday.
SURGING CASES
A new highly transmissible variant of the virus is emerging in Britain and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed a third national blockade in England to try to contain the pandemic before the most vulnerable are immunized. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have imposed similar measures.
More than 80,000 people died in Britain within 28 days after receiving a positive COVID-19 test, the fifth highest official death toll in the world, and more than 3 million people tested positive.
England’s medical director Chris Whitty said on Sunday that the national health service in some parts of the country was facing “the most difficult situation anyone could remember”.
Hancock did not rule out a more rigid blockade, saying he would “not speculate” about other restrictions, although he added that the “vast majority” of people are complying with current rules.
Editing by Mark Heinrich and Frances Kerry