LONDON (AP) – The UK government plans to offer a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to all adults before September as the nation’s healthcare system fights the worst crisis in its 72-year history.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Sunday that the government will soon begin a 24-hour injection test in some places as it continues to add more vaccination sites to increase the pace of delivery. The National Health Service opened a mass vaccination center on Saturday in historic Salisbury Cathedral, where injections are accompanied by organ music.
“Our goal is to offer a first dose to the entire adult population in September,” he told Sky News. “If we can do it faster than that, great, but that’s the roadmap.”
Britain has more than 51 million adults in its population of 67.5 million people.
The ambitious vaccination program comes amid overwhelming pressure on the National Health Service. Already besieged hospitals admit another COVID-19 patient every 30 seconds, placing the service in its most precarious situation in history, said Simon Stevens, executive director of NHS England.
“The facts are very clear and I’m not going to wrap them up, hospitals are under extreme pressure and staff are under extreme pressure,” he told the BBC. “Since Christmas Day, we have seen an increase of another 15,000 people hospitalized in hospitals in England. It’s the equivalent of filling 30 hospitals full of coronavirus patients. “
The British healthcare system is astonishing as doctors and nurses fight a more contagious variant of the coronavirus, along with a cold winter weather that drives people indoors, where infections spread more easily.
The increase in infections has brought the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 to a record 37,475, more than 73% more than during the first peak of the pandemic in April. Britain has reported 88,747 coronavirus-related deaths, more than any other country in Europe and the fifth highest number in the world.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered his third national closure in England on January 2 in an effort to curb the spread of the virus and protect the NHS, which Stevens said now has about 50,000 employees on leave due to the COVID-19 infections and exposure quarantines.
The government says it will not review the blocking measures until mid-February, when it plans to offer at least one dose of vaccine to all over-70s, as well as to front-line health workers and other people especially vulnerable to COVID. -19.
Once this goal is achieved, the UK will offer the vaccine to everyone over the age of 50 before finally moving on to everyone over the age of 18.
Unlike other countries, Britain has opted to extend the time between vaccine 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: those from Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna. The first two are already in use, while doses of Moderna are not expected until spring.
In the meantime, vaccination centers are opening in England in some of the country’s great cathedrals. Salisbury Cathedral, which also houses a copy of the Magna Carta, opened its large nave to the public. Others will follow as the release continues.
Organ music played as the spikes were delivered to Salisbury. Applications were received.
“I doubt anyone has a mouthful in a nicer setting than that, so I hope it makes it easier for people when they enter the building,” said Rev. Nicholas Papadopulos, dean of Salisbury.
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