Britain plans to complete “tens of millions” of vaccines against Covid-19 in the next three months, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.
Speaking to the BBC, Johnson said: “We hope we can make tens of millions [of Covid-19 vaccines] in the next three months, I can definitely give you that figure, ”he added.
Johnson said this strategy was based on three vaccines, the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine and the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccines, which have been approved in the UK, and the Modern vaccine, which would be ready for use “soon”.
The prime minister, echoing what he said in October last year, said: “I thought things would be better in the spring. I’ll stick with that.”
Asked about the number of doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, which was approved by UK regulators on Wednesday, Johnson said 530,000 doses would be ready to be inoculated on Monday, in addition to the “approximately one million” of Pfizer / BioNTechCovid -19 vaccine already distributed.
Earlier Sunday, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Twitter that the country had administered 1 million Pfizer / BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines, saying “the end is in sight”.
The UK revises the vaccine guidelines: Last week, the UK’s leading medical officers issued revised advice on the recommended interval between vaccine doses for the coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
Although British regulators had previously recommended that a second dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine be given three weeks after the first dose, British medical agents advised this week that it could be given 3 to 12 weeks after the first dose. dose. Similarly, the second dose of the UK / AstraZeneca vaccine recently authorized by the UK can be given 4 to 12 weeks after the first, according to the recommendations.
In a letter to healthcare professionals, medical chiefs defended their decision to extend the interval for patients waiting to receive their second dose of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine, saying Thursday that the decision was made in function of its assessed risk and benefit balance. .
The British Medical Association said the measure was “severely unfair” to thousands of at-risk patients across the country.
Pfizer says it has no data to show that a single dose of its Covid-19 vaccine would provide protection against the disease after more than 21 days.