LONDON (AP) – Britain is expanding a coronavirus vaccination program that has seen more than 6 million people receive the first of two doses, even as the country’s number of deaths in the pandemic approaches 100,000.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday that three-quarters of the UK’s over-80s had received a vaccine. He said three-quarters of nursing home residents have also had their first punch.
Health officials said 6.35 million doses of vaccine have been given since injections began last month, including nearly 500,000 doses on Saturday, a total one day higher so far. Health officials aim to give 15 million people, including all people over the age of 70, a first vaccine shot on February 15 and cover the entire adult population in September.
Britain inoculates people with two vaccines: one manufactured by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German company BioNTech, the other by the drug manufacturer Sweden-AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. It has also authorized a third, developed by Moderna.
It is firing on doctor’s offices, hospitals, pharmacies and vaccination centers installed in conference rooms, sports stadiums and other large venues such as Salisbury Cathedral.. Thirty more locations will open this week, including a former IKEA store and an industrial history museum that was used as the set for the “Peaky Blinders” TV show.
Britain’s vaccination campaign is a resounding success in a country with Europe’s worst confirmed outbreak of coronavirus. The UK has recorded 97,939 deaths among people who tested positive, including 610 new deaths reported on Sunday.
The United Kingdom will be established in a few days to become the fifth country in the world to record 100,000 deaths from COVID-19, after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico, with a much larger population than 67 million British people.
Some health experts have questioned the Conservative government’s decision to give the two doses of vaccine with a separation of up to 12 weeks, instead of the recommended three weeks, to offer as many people as possible the first dose quickly.
AstraZeneca has said it believes a first dose of its vaccine offers protection after 12 weeks, but Pfizer says it has not tested the effectiveness of its shot after such a long gap.
The British Medical Association says the government should “urgently review” the policy.
But Anthony Harnden, deputy head of the government’s joint advisory committee on vaccination and vaccination, defended the policy and said the UK was in a “terrible situation”.
“Every dose of vaccine we give as a second dose, we will deny someone the first dose right now and we will deny them very good protection,” Harnden told Sky News. He said the policy of prioritizing the first doses “would save thousands and thousands of lives.”
The latest British rise is being fueled in part by a new virus variant first identified in the south-east of England, which scientists believe is more transmissible than the original strain. They also say it can be more lethal, although the evidence is weaker.
The British government has said it may tighten quarantine requirements for people arriving from abroad to try to avoid other new variants discovered in South Africa and Brazil. Already travelers to Britain have to isolate themselves for ten days, but the application is erratic. Authorities consider forcing arrivals to stay in quarantine hotels such as those set in Australia and some other countries.
The UK is closed for several weeks to try to curb the spread of the virus. Pubs, restaurants, gyms, entertainment venues and many shops are closed and people have to stay home.
Blocking rules will be revised on February 15, but the government says it is too early to think about easing the restrictions.
“There is early evidence that the blockade is starting to bring down the cases, but we are very, very, very far from being low enough,” Hancock said.
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