LONDON (AP) – Britain said on Saturday that half of the country’s adults had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine as the government struggled to reach everyone over the age of 18 by the end of July.
The National Health Service shot 26.9 million people, or 51% of the adult population, in its arms, according to the latest government statistics. The NHS went halfway through delivering the first 589,689 doses on Friday, the highest daily total since the mass vaccination program began in early December.
“It’s a huge success,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in a video celebrating the milestone. “And I want to thank everyone involved, including half of all the adults who came. It is so important because this vaccine is our way out of this pandemic. ”
The announcement followed news from health authorities earlier this week that the UK will see a “significant reduction” in vaccine supplies next month. The NHS will continue through April to deliver the first doses to those most at risk of COVID-19, along with 12 million secondary strokes, Hancock said on Saturday.
In an effort to vaccinate as many people as possible, the UK has decided to extend the time between the first and second dose to 12 weeks instead of four weeks, as originally planned. Public health officials say the country’s vaccines offer a high level of immunity after a single shot, although two are needed for complete protection.
The UK delivered 44 doses of vaccine per 100 people, more than any other country with a population of over 10 million, according to data compiled by Oxford University. The United States is second in 35 doses to 100.
Even as the United Kingdom celebrates its success, there are growing concerns about the failure of rich countries to share the supply of rare vaccines with developing countries.
While the UK should be proud of its vaccination effort, it’s time to start thinking about the rest of the world, said Dr Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, a health policy think tank in London.
The UK has gained rights to a significantly higher vaccine dose than is needed to treat the entire UK population and it is time to start sharing this surplus with the countries most in need, Farrar said in a statement after Hancock’s announcement. Ensuring that ensuring world vaccination is a scientific and economic imperative.
The government has secured the rights to a total of 457 million doses of eight vaccines. With 66.8 million people living in the UK, it is enough to fully vaccinate the entire population three times.
“If left unchecked in large parts of the world, the virus risks moving to an extent that our vaccines and treatments no longer work – leaving us all exposed,” Farrar said. “Science has given us the exit strategy, but it will only work if its benefits can reach the maximum number of people around the world.”
Wellcome is a co-founder of the Coalition for Innovation in Epidemic Preparedness, which is part of an effort to ensure equitable access to coronavirus vaccines worldwide.
___
Follow the coverage of the AP pandemic at:
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine
https://apnews.com/hub/understanding-the-outbreak