LONDON (AP) – Britain is expanding a coronavirus vaccination program that has seen more than 6 million people receive the first of two doses – even as the number of deaths in the country in the pandemic approaches 100,000.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday that three-quarters of the UK’s 80s and older had received a vaccine. He said that three-quarters of nursing home residents also received their first injection.
Health officials said 6.35 million doses of the vaccine have been administered since the injections started last month, including nearly 500,000 doses on Saturday, the highest total for a day so far. Health officials intend to give 15 million people, including everyone over 70, a first vaccine injected by February 15, and cover the entire adult population by September.
Britain is inoculating people with two vaccines – one made by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German company BioNTech, the other by British Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. It also authorized a third party, developed by Moderna.
He is carrying out the actions in doctors’ offices, hospitals, pharmacies and vaccination centers installed in conference rooms, sports stadiums and other great places like Salisbury Cathedral. Thirty more locations are opening this week, including an old IKEA store and an industrial history museum that was used as a backdrop for the TV show “Peaky Blinders”.
Britain’s vaccination campaign is a rare success in a country with the worst confirmed coronavirus outbreak in Europe. The UK recorded 97,939 deaths among people who tested positive, including 610 new deaths reported on Sunday.
The UK is set in a few days to become the fifth country in the world to record 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico – all with populations much larger than the 67 million Britons.
Some health experts questioned the conservative government’s decision to give the two doses of the vaccine up to 12 weeks apart, instead of the recommended three weeks, in order to offer as many people as possible their first dose quickly.
AstraZeneca said it believes that a first dose of its vaccine offers protection after 12 weeks, but Pfizer says it has not tested its vaccine’s effectiveness after such a long interval.
The British Medical Association says the government must “urgently review” the policy.
But Anthony Harnden, deputy head of the Joint Immunization and Vaccination Committee that advises the government, defended the policy, saying the United Kingdom is in a “dire situation”.
“Every dose of the vaccine that we give as a second dose, we will be denying someone their first dose at the moment and denying them very good protection,” Harnden told Sky News. He said the policy of prioritizing first doses “would save thousands and thousands of lives”.
Britain’s latest outbreak is being fueled in part by a new variant of the virus initially identified in southeastern England, which scientists believe is more transmissible than the original strain. They also say it can be more lethal, although the evidence is weaker.
The British government said it could restrict quarantine requirements for people arriving from abroad, in an attempt to prevent the entry of other new variants discovered in South Africa and Brazil. Travelers to Britain, on the other hand, need to isolate themselves for 10 days, but enforcement is irregular. Authorities are considering requiring arrivals to be accommodated in quarantine hotels, such as those established in Australia and some other countries.
The UK has been in a blockade for several weeks to try to slow the spread of the virus. Pubs, restaurants, gyms, entertainment venues and many stores are closed, and people are forced to stay at home.
Blocking rules will be reviewed on February 15, but the government says it is too early to think about easing restrictions.
“There is early evidence that the blockade is starting to reduce cases, but we are still very, very far from being low enough,” said Hancock.
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