LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is on track to immunize its most vulnerable people against COVID-19 by mid-February and give every adult a chance by autumn, with around 2 million people already receiving a first dose, said his health secretary. on Sunday.
“In the last week we have vaccinated more people than in the whole of December, so we are accelerating the implementation,” Matt Hancock told BBC TV.
Britain is struggling with increasing infections, but is pinning its hopes on rapid vaccination to get life back to normal in the spring.
According to Hancock, about 2 million people have already received a first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
“We have now vaccinated about a third of all the eighties, so (we are making) very, very good progress,” he said.
To achieve the government’s goal of vaccinating against more than 14 million people by mid-February, consisting of the 70s, the clinically vulnerable – the elderly or existing conditions – and health and social workers, they need 2 million shots per week.
The current rate is about 200,000 a day, Hancock said.
Seven mass vaccination centers will open this week, supplementing nearly 1,000 doctor surgeries and hospitals offering shots. Hancock said every adult will get a vaccine by the fall.
Queen Elizabeth and her husband Philip, both in their nineties, were vaccinated, Buckingham Palace said on Saturday.
TRAINING CASES
A highly contagious new variant of the virus is on the rise in Britain and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has introduced a third national exclusion in England to try to stem the pandemic before the defenseless are immunized. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have introduced similar measures.
More than 80,000 people in Britain died within 28 days of receiving a positive COVID-19 test, the fifth highest official death toll worldwide, and more than 3 million people tested positive.
Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, said on Sunday that the national health service in parts of the country “had the most difficult situation anyone could remember”.
Hancock did not rule out a stricter closure, saying he “would not speculate” on further restrictions, although he added that the “vast majority” of people abide by current rules.
Edited by Mark Heinrich and Frances Kerry