LONDON (PA) – The UK is expanding a coronavirus vaccination program that has seen more than 6 million people receive the first of two doses – even if the country’s death toll from the pandemic is close to 100,000.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday that three-quarters of Britain’s 80-year-olds had received a vaccine. He said three-quarters of nursing home residents also had their first jab.
Health officials say 6.35 million doses of the vaccine have been given since the injections began last month, including nearly 500,000 doses on Saturday, the highest total in a day so far. Health officials aim to provide 15 million people, including all those over the age of 70, with a first shot shot by February 15 and cover the entire adult population by September.
The UK inoculates people with two vaccines – one made by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the German company BioNTech, the other by the British-Swedish doctor AstraZeneca and Oxford University. It also authorized a third, developed by Moderna.
It offers photos at doctors’ offices, hospitals, pharmacies and vaccination centers set up in conference rooms, sports stadiums and other large venues, such as Salisbury Cathedral.. Another 30 locations are opening this week, including a former IKEA store and an industrial history museum that was used as the set for the TV show “Peaky Blinders.”
The UK vaccination campaign is a rare success in a country with the worst confirmed outbreak of coronavirus in Europe. The UK recorded 97,939 deaths among those who tested positive, including 610 new deaths reported on Sunday.
The UK is set to become the fifth country in the world to record 100,000 deaths through COVID-19, after the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico – all with a much larger population than the UK’s 67 million people.
Some health experts have questioned the Conservative government’s decision to administer the two doses of vaccine up to 12 weeks apart, rather than the recommended three weeks, to give as many people the first dose as quickly as possible.
AstraZeneca said it believes a first dose of the vaccine provides protection after 12 weeks, but Pfizer says it has not tested the effectiveness of its jab after such a long gap.
The British Medical Association says the government should “urgently review” the policy.
But Anthony Harnden, the deputy head of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Vaccination, who advised the government, defended the policy, saying the UK was in a “serious situation”.
“Every dose of vaccine we give as a second dose, we will deny someone the first dose at this time and we will deny them very good protection,” Harnden told Sky News. He said the policy of prioritizing the first doses would “save thousands and thousands of lives.”
Britain’s latest growth is fueled in part by a new variant of the virus first identified in the south-east of England, which scientists believe is more transmissible than the original strain. They also say it can be more lethal, although the evidence is weaker.
The British government said it could strengthen quarantine requirements for people arriving from abroad, in an attempt to avoid other new variants discovered in South Africa and Brazil. Already trips to the UK have to self-isolate for 10 days, but the application is uneven. Authorities are considering requiring arrivals to stay in quarantine hotels, such as those set up in Australia and other countries.
Britain is in a deadlock for several weeks to try to slow the spread of the virus. Bars, restaurants, gyms, entertainment venues and many shops are closed, and people have to stay mostly at home.
The blocking rules will be reviewed on February 15, but the government says it is too early to think about reducing the restrictions.
“There is early evidence that the blockade is starting to reduce cases, but we are on a long, long, long road to being low enough,” Hancock said.
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