Seven centers will open on Monday, as the British government accelerates efforts to combat the spreading virus.
The British government will open seven mass vaccination centers on Monday as part of efforts to accelerate the launch of COVID-19 vaccines, which the government wants to offer to all vulnerable people by mid-next month.
The country, which was the first to approve vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca, is currently immunizing about 200,000 people a day, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday.
About 1.3 million people had received their first double-dose vaccination dose since January 3, according to government data, but the UK needs to inoculate two million people a week to meet its vaccination target for those in nursing homes 70s, clinically vulnerable people with pre-existing conditions and health and social care workers by 15 February
Britain is setting its hopes on rapid immunization to allow life to return to normal by the spring of the northern hemisphere, even as it tackles a rapidly escalating pandemic.
In addition to the seven major centers, the UK also uses 1,000 clinics, 223 hospitals and 200 community pharmacies to administer vaccinations, Vaccine Implementation Minister Nadhim Zahawi said in a statement. The armed forces will also be deployed in support of the National Health Service.
Ellen Prosser, 100, known as Nell, receives her first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a nursing home in London. The UK wants all home residents over the age of 70, vulnerable people and health and care workers to receive the vaccine by mid-February [Kirsty O’Connor/Pool Photo via AP Photo]
“Working together, day and night, will ensure that our vaccines fall into the arms rather than sit on shelves,” Zahawi said. “British forces will use techniques supported by decades of experience in doing things in some of the most difficult conditions imaginable. They will bring the courage and brilliance they have shown in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to these shores. ”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock will present his COVID-19 immunization plan later on Monday – the largest vaccination program in Britain’s history.
“The UK vaccine delivery plan will be the cornerstone of our pandemic exit, but we must all continue to play our part by staying home, following the rules and keeping our hands, face, space in the forefront of our minds when we are and about, “he said in a statement.
About 81,567 people in the UK have died from COVID-19, the fifth largest official death toll in the world. More than three million people tested positive for coronavirus.
The centers include the 4,000-bed “Nightingale” field hospital set up at the ExCel exhibition center in east London, the Epsom racecourse west of the capital and a giant leisure center in Manchester.
Ambulances outside NHS Nightingale Hospital in East London’s ExCel Center, which will also become a mass vaccination center [Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP]