LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has achieved a COVID-19 vaccination milestone, with more than half of all adults having at least one injection, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Saturday, making it the world’s first-largest economy around that level of innocence.
Britain’s deployment of vaccines, which are higher than those in the European Union and the United States, means the country is on track to facilitate the closure measures and reopen the economy in line with its plan, Hancock said.
“The vaccination program is our way out of the pandemic,” Hancock told Sky News on Saturday. Official data showed that 26.9 million received a first dose of vaccine, compared to 26.3 million the previous day.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had AstraZeneca’s vaccine on Friday, tweeted “Let’s move on” after announcing that half of all adults had a first chance.
But there has also been concern about a new wave of infections in mainland Europe as cases increase in countries including Germany and France. A scientist advising the government warned on Saturday that holidays abroad were “extremely unlikely” for most Britons for the summer because of the risk of introducing new variants of COVID-19.
Asked if infection rates were affecting him elsewhere in Europe, Hancock said Britain needed to be vigilant, but that he saw no threat to plans to gradually reopen shops, pubs and restaurants from 12 April. make progress as set out in the roadmap, ”Hancock said.
Britain’s vaccination with the AstraZeneca and Pfizer jabs is one of the fastest in the world. Israel is the best in the world in terms of the proportion of the population it has vaccinated, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Chile, then the United Kingdom.
By comparison, 23% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of vaccine, and less than one-tenth of the EU population has been vaccinated.
ON TRACK FOR TARGETING
The British government has said it aims to give at least one blow to each adult by mid-July, targets that Hancock said would be achieved.
Well-known clinics in London, such as Westminster Abbey and the Science Museum, as well as local mosques and football stadiums.
The state-run health service also said that 2.1 million people, or 4% of the population, had a second dose and that almost 95% of the people over 60 had been vaccinated.
The EU, meanwhile, is seeking to get its vaccine program back on track after at least 13 countries temporarily suspended use of the AstraZeneca shot last week due to safety concerns.
The European Medicines Agency has since said that the benefits of protecting people outweigh the potential risks of the vaccine, but the damage to the reputation of the AstraZeneca jab could further slow the pace of rollout.
The struggle to secure the supply of vaccines has left Britain and the EU in disagreement over the export of vaccines. The EU on Wednesday threatened to ban shipments to Britain.
Coming in April, Britain warned that implementation would be delayed due to a stock crisis caused by a delayed shipment from India and the need to test one group of vaccines.
Reporting by Sarah Young; Edited by Andrew Heavens and David Holmes