LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has become the first country to vaccinate its population with Oxford University and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shooting, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson should tighten restrictions in England in a bid to slow the spread.
Johnson will make a televised address at 20:00 (2000 GMT), and parliament will be revoked 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 further steps need to be taken to halt this growth and protect the NHS (National Health Service) and save lives. He will settle them tonight. “
Against the backdrop of record daily cases, Britain has claimed a scientific “triumph” as dialysis patient Brian Pinker, 82, became the first person to receive the Oxford / AstraZeneca shooting outside of a trial.
“I am so excited to receive the COVID vaccine today and am very proud that it was invented in Oxford,” said Pinker, a retired maintenance manager, just a few hundred meters from where the vaccine was developed.
The UK is facing 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 of a positive test.
It was the first country to launch the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech in Germany almost a month ago and gives priority to receiving a first dose of vaccines in as many people as possible rather than administering a second dose.
Some experts say they are concerned about such an approach.
Two new variants of coronavirus complicate the COVID-19 response, and the United Kingdom has seen a reappearance in cases at new daily highs.
Scientists in the UK have expressed concern that the COVID-19 vaccines launched may not be able to protect against a new variant of the coronavirus that has appeared in South Africa and has spread internationally.
Johnson warned of the “tough and tough weeks” ahead.
“If you look at the numbers, there’s no doubt we’re going to have to take tougher action,” Johnson said on a visit to see health workers receiving the Oxford vaccine.
DEVELOPED RESTRICTIONS
ITV News said the toughest level of level 4 restrictions, which currently cover much of England, would be imposed across the country and schools would be closed.
Ahead of Johnson, Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has imposed the strictest blockade since last spring.
“It is no exaggeration to say that I am more concerned about the situation we are facing now than we have been at any time since March,” she said.
Britain has administered more than a million COVID-19 vaccines – more than the rest of Europe combined, said Health Secretary Matt Hancock, saying it is a triumph of British science.
The Johnson administration has provided 100 million doses of the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine, which can be stored at refrigerator temperatures between two and eight degrees, making it easier to distribute than the Pfizer photo.
Six hospitals in England administer the first of 530,000 doses prepared by the UK. The program will be expanded to hundreds of other British sites in the coming days, and the government hopes to deliver tens of millions of doses in a few months.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it has administered 4.2 million first doses of COVID-19 vaccines since 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 considering delaying the administration of a second dose of Pfizer vaccine to keep supplies low, following a similar move by the UK.
Britain has become the first Western country to approve and launch a COVID-19 vaccine, although it has been behind Russia and China for inoculating its citizens for months.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Written by William James, Guy Faulconbridge and Alistair Smout; Editing by Kate Holton, Nick Macfie and Mike Collett-White