The United Kingdom’s health secretary announced Saturday that half of the adult population has now received at least one coronavirus vaccine dose, which is welcome news for a country that has been battered by the pandemic in recent months but has managed to better control the virus in 2021 thanks in large part to its relatively efficient vaccination program.
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, makes a gesture after taking the first dose of the AstraZeneca… [+] vaccination. (Photo courtesy of WPA Pool/Getty Images/Frank Augstein)
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Health Secretary Matt Hancock stated in a video broadcast to Twitter on Saturday morning that the United Kingdom provided 660,276 vaccination shots on Friday, a record amount of doses for a single day.
“The vaccine is a national success story,” he added, adding that it will be the “route out of this pandemic” for Britain.
Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, was among those who received the vaccine on Friday “Thank you to everyone who contributed to this amazing success. Let’s keep moving forward!”
The announcement comes amid a spike in Covid-19 cases across the European Union, fueled by the development of highly contagious virus strains, as well as vaccine rollout and distribution concerns that have impeded vaccination efforts. After more than 38,500 new coronavirus infections were detected nationally on Wednesday, France declared on Thursday that approximately 21 million people in and around Paris will be placed on a month-long partial lockdown (the highest number since November). Poland’s government has similarly proposed a three-week shutdown of non-essential enterprises. In addition, because to allegations of a possible relation to blood clots, 13 European countries temporarily halted the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Germany, Italy, and Spain, however, had started giving the vaccine on Friday after the European Medicines Agency assessed it to be “safe and effective.” (Anyone under the age of 55 is not eligible for the AstraZeneca vaccine in France.) The vaccine’s use has also been recommended by the World Health Organization. The immunization program in the United Kingdom, which relies primarily on AstraZeneca, has proven to be more effective than its European counterparts. Another factor has been the British government’s decision to use a unique immunization protocol in which the first dose is given to as many people as possible rather than withholding some of the supply to administer quick second shots, which has resulted in a significant increase in the number of people inoculated.
Following confirmation that an upcoming shipment of over 5 million doses will be delayed, the United Kingdom recently announced that its vaccination rate would be slowed, resulting in a supply reduction in April.
4.2 million people. According to Public Health England, there have been 4,285,600 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom, resulting in over 126,000 deaths.
Half of all adults in the United Kingdom receive their first vaccine injection, marking a significant milestone. (Reuters)
Covid-19: After a record day for vaccinations, Hancock lauds the UK’s vaccine success. (BBC) Continue reading
