LONDON (PA) – The British government intends to provide a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine for every adult by September, as the national health care system struggles with the worst crisis in its 72-year history.
Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday that the government will soon begin a process of non-stop injections in some locations as it continues to add more vaccination sites to increase the pace of delivery. The National Health Service opened a mass vaccination center on Saturday at historic Salisbury Cathedral, where injections were accompanied by organ music.
“Our goal is to give all adults a first dose in September,” he told Sky News. “If we can do it faster than that, great, but that’s the roadmap.”
The UK has over 51 million adults in its population of 67.5 million people.
The ambitious vaccination program comes amid crushing pressure on the National Health Service. Already besieged hospitals admit another patient with COVID-19 every 30 seconds, putting the service in its worst precarious condition, said Simon Stevens, executive director of NHS England.
“The facts are very clear and I am not going to put them in them, the hospitals are under extreme pressure and the staff is under extreme pressure,” he told the BBC. “On Christmas Day, we saw an increase of 15,000 patients in hospitals in England. It is the equivalent of filling 30 hospitals full of coronavirus patients. “
The UK healthcare system is astonishing as doctors and nurses struggle with a more contagious variant of coronavirus, along with the cold, humid winter weather that drives people indoors, where infections spread more easily.
The increase in infections pushed the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 to a record 37,475, more than 73% higher than during the first peak of the April pandemic. The UK has reported 88,747 coronavirus-related deaths, more than any other country in Europe and the fifth largest in the world.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on January 2 ordered England to enter the third national blockade in an effort to slow the spread of the virus and protect the NHS, which Stevens said now has 50,000 employees outside due to COVID-19 infections and exposure quarantines.
The government says it will not review the blocking measures until mid-February, when it intends to provide at least one dose of vaccine to all those over 70, as well as health workers and those who are particularly vulnerable to VOCID – 19.
Once this goal is reached, the UK will offer the vaccine to everyone over the age of 50 before finally moving on to everyone over the age of 18.
Unlike other countries, the UK has chosen to extend the time between vaccine doses from 21 days to 12 weeks – a decision that means more people will receive at least one dose sooner.
The UK has approved three vaccines – those from Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Moderna. The first two are already in use, while Moderna doses are not expected until spring.
Vaccination centers are now open in some of the country’s major cathedrals. Salisbury Cathedral, which also houses a copy of the Magna Carta, has opened its grand nave to the public. Others will follow as the launch continues.
Organ music was played while the jabs were delivered to Salisbury. Requests were received.
“I doubt anyone has a jab in the surroundings that is more beautiful than this, so I hope it will make it easier for people as they enter the building,” said High Priest Nicholas Papadopulos, Dean of Salisbury.
__
Follow AP coverage of the coronavirus pandemic at:
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak