LONDON (AP) – The British government said on Sunday that all adults in the country should receive a first coronavirus vaccine before July 31, at least a month before its previous target, as it was preparing to establish a plan cautious “to ease the closure of the United Kingdom.
The previous goal was for all adults to receive a look in September. The new target also requires everyone 50 years of age and older and those with an underlying disease to get the first of two vaccines before April 15, instead of the previous May 1 date.
Manufacturers of the two vaccines used by Britain, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, have experienced supply problems in Europe. But UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday that “we now think we have the supplies” to speed up the vaccination campaign.
The initial success of the British vaccination effort is good news for a country that has suffered more than 120,000 deaths from coronavirus, the highest number in Europe. More than 17.5 million people, a third of UK adults, have contracted a vaccine since inoculations began on 8 December.
Britain delays the dose of the second vaccine up to 12 weeks after the first, instead of three to four weeks, in order to provide more people with partial protection quickly. The approach has been criticized in some countries – and by Pfizer, which says it has no data to support the range – but is backed by scientific advisers from the UK government.
The news of the new vaccination targets came when Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with senior ministers on Sunday to finalize a “roadmap” outside the national closure. He plans to announce details in Parliament on Monday.
Faced with a dominant virus variant that scientists say is more transmissible and more deadly than the original virus, Britain has spent much of the winter under close confinement. Bars, restaurants, gyms, schools, hairdressers and all non-essential shops have been closed; there are still stories of groceries, pharmacies and takeaways.
The government has stressed that economic and social reopenings will be slow and prudent, as non-essential shopping or outdoor socializing is unlikely before April. Many children will return to school from March 8 and residents of nursing homes will be able to have a visitor from the same date.
The Johnson Conservative government has been accused of reopening the country too quickly after the first closure in the spring. The number of new confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths is declining in February, but remains high, and Johnson says his roadmap opening will follow “data, not dates.”
But it is under pressure from some conservative lawmakers, who argue that restrictions should be removed quickly to revive an economy that has been attacked by three closures in the past year.
John Edmunds, a member of the government’s scientific advisory group, said British hospitals are still treating nearly 20,000 coronavirus patients, half of the peak in January, but almost as much as the height of the first wave last spring.
“If we relaxed very quickly now, we would get another increase in hospitalizations and deaths,” he told the BBC.
Edmunds said there is added uncertainty over new virus variants, including one identified in South Africa that may be more resistant to current vaccines.
Hancock told Sky News that the government would take a “cautious but irreversible approach” to reopening the economy.
Despite the success of Europe’s fastest vaccination campaign, the UK government has been accused of failing to protect people with disabilities, who are among those most at risk for coronavirus.
The Office for National Statistics has found that 60% of people who died of coronavirus in England in 2020 had a physical or mental disability. But many people with disabilities, apart from people with “severe or profound” learning difficulties, have not been included in a priority group for vaccination.
Jo Whiley, a well-known BBC radio DJ, highlighted on Sunday the situation of his sister Frances, 53, with learning difficulties. Whiley said her sister contracted the coronavirus in an outbreak at her home, whose residents had not been vaccinated.
Whiley said he had finally been offered a vaccine to his sister, but it came too late.
“In fact, he received a vaccine last night. My mother received a message telling her that she could get vaccinated, but it is too late, she is fighting for her life ”in the hospital, Whiley told the BBC. “I couldn’t be more cruel.”
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