LONDON (AP) – The UK government said on Sunday that every adult in the country should receive an initial vaccination against the coronavirus by July 31, at least a month earlier than the previous target, as they prepared to implement a ‘cautious’ plan to meet the UK lockdown.
The previous goal was for all adults to receive an injection in September. The new target also calls for anyone 50 and older and those with an underlying health condition to get their first of two vaccinations before April 15, instead of the previous May 1 date.
The makers of the two vaccines Britain uses, Pfizer and AstraZeneca, have both faced delivery problems in Europe. But UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday that “we now think we have supplies” to speed up the vaccination campaign.
The early success of the vaccination effort in Britain is welcome good news for a country that has seen more than 120,000 deaths from the coronavirus, the highest toll in Europe. More than 17.5 million people, a third of UK adults, have had at least one vaccination shot since the vaccinations began on December 8.
Britain is delaying giving second doses of vaccine to 12 weeks after the first, instead of three to four weeks, to provide more people with partial protection soon. The approach has been criticized in some countries – and by Pfizer, who says it has no data to support the interval – but is backed by the UK government’s scientific advisers.
News of the new vaccine targets came when Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with senior ministers on Sunday to finalize a “roadmap” out of the national lockdown. He plans to reveal details in Parliament on Monday.
Faced with a dominant virus variant that scientists say is both more transmissible and more deadly than the original virus, Britain has spent much of the winter under tight lockdown. Bars, restaurants, gyms, schools, hair salons and all non-essential stores are closed; grocery stories, pharmacies and takeaways are still open.
The government has stressed that economic and social reopenings will be slow and cautious, with non-essential shops or outdoor socializing unlikely before April. Many children go back to school from 8 March and residents of nursing homes can have one visitor from the same date.
Johnson’s conservative government has been accused of reopening the country too soon after the first lockdown in the spring. The number of new confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths are all declining in February, but remain high, and Johnson says his reopening roadmap will follow “data, not dates.”
But he’s under pressure from some conservative lawmakers, who argue that the restrictions must be lifted quickly to revive an economy hammered by three lockdowns over the past year.
John Edmunds, a member of the government’s scientific advisory group, said UK hospitals are still treating nearly 20,000 coronavirus patients, half the peak in January but nearly as many as the peak of the first wave last spring.
“If we relaxed very quickly now, we would see another rise in hospital admissions and deaths,” he told the BBC.
Edmunds said there is additional uncertainty due to new virus variants, including one identified in South Africa that may be more resistant to current vaccines.
Hancock told Sky News the government would take a “cautious but irreversible approach” to reopen the economy.
Despite the success of Europe’s fastest vaccination campaign, the UK government has been accused of failing to protect people with disabilities, who are among the biggest risks of the coronavirus.
The Office for National Statistics has determined that 60% of people who died of coronavirus in England in 2020 had a physical or mental disability. But many people with disabilities, apart from those with “severe or severe” learning disabilities, have not been placed in a vaccination priority group.
Jo Whiley, a well-known BBC radio DJ, on Sunday highlighted the plight of her 53-year-old sister Frances, who has a learning disability. Whiley said her sister contracted the coronavirus during an outbreak in her care home, whose residents had not been vaccinated.
Whiley said her sister had finally gotten a shot of vaccine – but it came too late.
“She was actually asked for her vaccine last night. My mother got a message saying she could get vaccinated, but it’s too late, she’s fighting for her life, ”Whiley told the BBC. “It couldn’t be more cruel.”
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