Pharmacies in England on the street will start rolling out Covid vaccines as the number of virus deaths across the UK rises to over 100,000.
The Boots and Superdrug branches will be one of six stores across England that will be able to manage the spikes from Thursday, while the Government aims to achieve its goal of vaccinating all people in the four most vulnerable groups by mid-next month .
Andrews Pharmacy in Macclesfield, Cullimore Chemist in Edgware, North London, Woodside Pharmacy in Telford and Applnes Village Pharmacy in Widnes will be the first group to deliver the injections, alongside Boots in Halifax and Superdrug in Guildford.
Boris Johnson also told MPs that distribution “will go 24 hours a day, 7 days a week as soon as we can,” but said the supply of doses remained the main barrier.
The Scottish government released its vaccine delivery plan on Wednesday evening, which includes details of how many doses it expects to receive each week until the end of May, prompting a dispute with London, which has refused to publish its numbers.
All six pharmacies have been selected because they can administer large volumes of the vaccine and allow for social distancing, and Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it was “fantastic” that the outbreaks were available on Main Street.
“Pharmacies are at the heart of local communities and will make a big difference in our deployment program by providing even more local and convenient locations for those who meet the requirements to get their shot,” he said.
By the end of the month, more than 200 community chemists will be able to administer vaccines, according to NHS England.
Pharmacies are joining 200 hospitals, about 800 GP clinics and seven mass vaccination centers where lava is already being distributed.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer urged ministers to go further and use the 11,500 English pharmacies to deliver vaccines 24 hours a day by the end of next month.
The expanded vaccination service in England comes as the daily death toll in the UK hit a new high on Wednesday, with 1,564 deaths recorded in the 28 days following the positive test.
The latest figures suggest that the milestone of more than 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths has been approved in the UK, according to official data.