LONDON (Reuters) – Britain became the first country to vaccinate its population with Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 feature on Monday, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson was scheduled to tighten restrictions in England to try to curb the spread of cases.
Johnson will make a televised speech at 8pm (2000 GMT) and parliament will be withdrawn on Wednesday.
“The spread of the new variant of COVID-19 has led to a rapid increase in the number of cases across the country,” a spokesman for the prime minister’s office said.
“The prime minister is clear that additional measures must now be taken to stop this rise and protect the NHS (National Health Service) and save lives. He will launch them this evening.”
Faced with the nefarious background of historic daily cases, Britain promoted a scientific “triumph” as dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, became the first person to receive the Oxford / AstraZeneca shot outside of a trial.
“I am very pleased to receive the vaccine against COVID today and I am very proud that it was the one that was invented in Oxford,” said Pinker, a retired maintenance manager, a few hundred yards from where the vaccine was developed.
Britain faces the sixth highest death toll in the world and one of the worst economic successes of the COVID-19 crisis. More than 75,000 people in the UK have died from COVID-19 within 28 days after a positive test.
It was the first country to launch the vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech almost a month ago and prioritizes receiving a first dose of vaccines to as many people as possible before giving two.
Some experts say they are concerned about this approach.
Two new variants of coronavirus complicate the COVID-19 response and Britain has experienced a resurgence of cases to new daily highs.
British scientists have expressed concern that the COVID-19 vaccines that are being rolled out cannot protect against a new variant of the coronavirus that emerged in South Africa and has spread internationally.
Johnson warned of “difficult and hard weeks” ahead.
“If you look at the numbers, there’s no doubt we’ll have to take tougher action,” Johnson said on a visit to see the health professionals receiving the Oxford vaccine.
RESTRICTIONS COMMUNICATING
ITV News said the tougher level of Level 4 restrictions, which currently covers much of England, would be imposed across the country and schools would be closed.
Ahead of Johnson, Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon imposed the tightest closure since last spring.
“It’s no exaggeration to say I’m more concerned about the situation we’re facing now that I haven’t been at any point since March,” he said.
Britain has administered more than a million vaccines against COVID-19, more than the rest of Europe, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, declaring it to be a triumph of British science.
The Johnson administration has secured 100 million doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine that can be stored at temperatures of two or eight degrees in the refrigerator, making it easier to distribute than the Pfizer shot.
Six hospitals in England administer the first of Britain’s 530,000 doses ready. The program will be expanded to hundreds of other British sites in the coming days and the government expects to deliver tens of millions of doses in a few months.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they administered 4.2 million first doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Saturday morning and distributed 13.07 million doses.
More than a tenth of Israel’s population has had a vaccine and now administers more than 150,000 doses a day.
Germany and Denmark are studying the possibility of delaying the administration of a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine to make scarce supplies go further, following a similar move by Britain.
Britain became the first Western country to approve and deploy a COVID-19 vaccine, even though it is behind Russia and China who have been inoculating their citizens for months.
Additional Reports by Elizabeth Piper, Writing by William James, Guy Faulconbridge, and Alistair Smout; Editing by Kate Holton, Nick Macfie and Mike Collett-White