LONDON (Reuters) – More than 20 million people in the UK have now received their first vaccination with COVID-19, data showed on Sunday as the country made further progress on Europe’s fastest vaccination program.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the milestone was “ a tremendous national achievement and he bore testimony to the health, workers, volunteers and armed forces of the country.
“I urge everyone to get the shot when they are called,” Johnson said. “Every shot makes a difference in our fight against COVID.”
Britain has suffered the highest COVID-19 death toll in Europe – it currently stands at 122,849 – and the worst economic shock among large wealthy countries, according to key measurements from official data.
But the pace of vaccination introduction has increased the prospect of a gradual lifting of the current lockdown restrictions between now and the end of June.
On Sunday, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak promised to help the economy while the country remains under restrictions.
In a budget statement on Wednesday, he is expected to announce more loans on top of his nearly £ 300 billion ($ 418 billion) in COVID-19 spending and tax cuts.
Official data showed that a total of 20.09 million people in the UK have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and nearly 800,000 have received a second dose.
Last week, Britain said more than one in three adults had received their first vaccination.
Britain also reported a further 6,035 cases in the past 24 hours and 144 more deaths within 28 days of a positive test on Sunday.
According to the latest figures, cases in the past seven days had decreased by 21.2% compared to the previous seven-day period of February 15-21, and the number of deaths by 33.5%.
Written by William Schomberg; Editing by Jane Merriman and Susan Fenton