LONDON – England will launch the next phase of its COVID-19 vaccination program on Monday, when it will start offering doses to people aged 70 and over and those who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable to coronavirus.
The vaccination program, the largest to date in Europe, has so far focused on people aged 80 and over, as well as front-line health and care staff.
“Today is a significant milestone in our vaccination program as we open it up to millions more people at higher risk of COVID-19,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.
“We have a long way to go and there will certainly be challenges ahead, but working together we are making tremendous progress in our fight against this virus.”
Health Minister Matt Hancock said more than half of all over-80s had now been vaccinated.
Britain, which has the highest death toll in Europe in COVID-19, hopes progress with the deployment of vaccines will allow it to ease some of the economically damaging blockade restrictions in March, the foreign minister said Dominic Raab.
The government wanted all adults to receive a first vaccination in September, he said, adding, “If we can do it faster than that, that’s fine. But that’s the roadmap.”
Johnson has set a goal to vaccinate the four highest-risk categories, which include approximately 14 million people, by mid-February.
The government said the first two groups in its program would remain its priority, but that vaccination sites that can accommodate more people will invite members of the next two cohorts to make their vaccines.
Sunday’s announcement related to vaccinations in England, a health ministry spokesman said. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own health policy powers.
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