LONDON (AP) – The UK became the first nation in the world on Monday to start using the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and drug manufacturer AstraZeneca, boosting a nationwide inoculation program , as rising infection rates put unprecedented pressure on British hospitals.
Brian Pinker, an 82-year-old dialysis patient, received the first shot at 7.30am at Oxford University Hospital.
“Today’s nurses, doctors and staff have been brilliant and I can now look forward to celebrating my 48th wedding anniversary with my wife, Shirley, later this year,” Pinker said in a statement released by the Service. National Health.
The launch of the new vaccine comes at a crucial time for British authorities, who are battling an increase in infections blamed on a new variant of the virus that authorities have said is much more contagious. Scotland imposed a shutdown until the end of January amid growing pressure on officials to tighten restrictions across the UK
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has said tougher measures are imminent, announced a nationwide speech at 8 p.m. It will be recalled that the British Parliament will meet on Wednesday.
“If you look at the numbers, there’s no doubt we’ll have to take tougher action and announce the ones that come in time,” Johnson said while visiting some of the people receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at Chase Farm Hospital north of London.
The UK is in the midst of an acute outbreak, recording more than 50,000 new coronavirus infections a day over the past six days. On Sunday, it registered 54,990 more cases and 454 more deaths related to the virus to reach the number of deaths from pandemic confirmed at more than 75,000, one of the worst in Europe. Some areas in North East London have infection rates of over 1,000 cases per 100,000 people.
Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon says as of Tuesday, people in Scotland will be legally required to stay home, except for essential reasons to help ease the pressure on hospitals and intensive care units.
Under the new blocking rules in Scotland, people can go out to exercise but can only meet another person from another home. School closures are extended through February, except for the children of key workers and children under social care.
“I am more concerned about the situation we are facing now than at any time since March last year,” he said
Scotland, which has its own decentralized government, has often imposed stricter coronavirus restrictions than those occurring in England throughout the pandemic.
UK regulators last week authorized the emergency use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shooting, offering public health officials a second vaccine in their medical arsenal. Britain’s mass vaccination program began on December 8 with the shot developed by New York-based Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
Britain has secured the rights to 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is cheaper and easier to use than some of its rivals. In particular, it does not require the super-cold storage required for the Pfizer vaccine.
The new vaccine will be administered in a small number of hospitals during the first few days so that authorities can monitor for adverse reactions. But the NHS said hundreds of new vaccination sites, including local medical offices, will open later this week, adding to the more than 700 vaccination sites already operating.
Johnson is doing an ongoing “mass upload operation” on the vaccination program. But aspects of Britain’s vaccination plans have sparked controversy.
Both vaccines require two shots, and Pfizer had recommended that the second dose be given within 21 days of the first. But the UK Joint Vaccination and Vaccination Committee said authorities should give the first dose of vaccine to as many people as possible, rather than setting aside vaccines to ensure others receive two doses. The time has been extended from doses of 21 days to 12 weeks.
While two doses are needed to fully protect against COVID-19, both provide high levels of protection after the first dose, the committee said. Making the first dose a priority “will maximize the benefits of the short-term vaccination program,” he said.
Stephen Evans, a professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said policymakers are forced to balance the potential risks of this change with the benefits amid a deadly pandemic.
“We have a crisis situation in the UK with a new variant spreading rapidly and, as has become clear to everyone during 2020, delays are costing lives,” Evans said. “When dose and people resources to vaccinate are limited, vaccinating more people with potentially lower efficacy is demonstrably better than half-complete efficacy.”
In England alone, 23,557 people with COVID-19 were admitted on Saturday. Although figures for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have not been updated in recent days, this is higher than the peak across the UK during the first wave of the pandemic.
The government closed non-essential stores in London and parts of the south-east of England before Christmas to try to contain the new variant, but health officials say tougher measures are now needed.
Johnson said there were “hard and tough” weeks to come in the fight against COVID-19. More school closures, curfews and a total ban on mixing homes could be on the agenda.
Although schools in London are already closed due to high infection rates in the capital, students from many parts of the country were returning to face-to-face classes on Monday after the Christmas break. However, unions representing teachers have called for schools across England to remain closed for at least two weeks, with classes transferred to distance learning.
Professor Andrew Pollard, one of the scientists who led the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, was fired on Monday.
“It was an incredibly proud time for me to have received the real vaccine that the Oxford University and AstraZeneca teams have worked so hard to make available to the UK and the world,” he said.
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Sylvia Hui, an Associated Press writer, contributed
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