LONDON (AP) – The British government plans to offer a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to every adult by September, as the country’s healthcare system is battling the worst crisis in its 72-year history.
Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday that the government would soon start a 24-hour trial in some places as it added more and more vaccination sites to increase the delivery rate. The National Health Service opened a mass vaccination center in historic Salisbury Cathedral on Saturday, where injections were accompanied by organ music.
“Our goal is to offer all adults a first dose by September,” he told Sky News. “If we can do it faster than that, great, but that’s the road map.”
Britain has more than 51 million adults in its population of 67.5 million people.
The ambitious vaccination program comes amid crushing pressure on the National Health Service. Already besieged hospitals take in a COVID-19 patient every 30 seconds, which puts the service in its most difficult situation ever, says Simon Stevens, CEO of NHS England.
“The facts are very clear and I’m not going to sugarcoat it, hospitals are under extreme pressure and staff are under extreme pressure,” he told the BBC. ‘Since Christmas Day we have seen another 15,000 increases in hospitals in England. This is equivalent to filling 30 hospitals full of coronavirus patients. ”
Britain’s healthcare system is staggering as doctors and nurses fight a more contagious variant of the coronavirus, coupled with cold, wet winter weather that drives people inside, where infections spread more easily.
The increase in infections increased the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 to 37 475, more than 73% higher than during the first peak of the pandemic in April. Britain reported 88,747 coronavirus-related deaths, more than any other country in Europe and the fifth-highest number worldwide.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on January 2 ordered England to halt its third national exclusion in an effort to slow the spread of the virus and protect the NHS, which Stevens says now has about 50,000 employees due to COVID 19 infections and exposure quarantines.
The government says it will only review the closure measures in mid-February, by which time it plans to offer at least one dose of vaccine to anyone over the age of 70, as well as to frontline health workers and others who are particularly vulnerable to COVID -19.
Once the target is reached, the UK will offer the vaccine to anyone over 50 before finally going to anyone over 18.
Unlike other countries, Britain has chosen to extend the time between doses from 21 days to 12 weeks – a decision that means more people will get at least one dose faster.
Britain has approved three vaccines – one by Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna. The first two are already in use, while the doses of Moderna are only expected in the spring.
Meanwhile, vaccination centers are being opened in England at some of the country’s major cathedrals. Salisbury Cathedral, which also houses a copy of the Magna Carta, has opened its large nave to the public. Others will follow if the deployment continues.
Organ music is played while the jabs are delivered at Salisbury. Requests were taken.
“I doubt anyone in the area is nicer than that, so I hope it will make people easier when they get into the building,” said Rev. Nicholas Papadopulos, dean of Salisbury, said.
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