LONDON (Reuters) – Britain has hit a COVID-19 vaccination milestone, with more than half of all adults having at least one injection, health secretary Matt Hancock said Saturday, making it the world’s first major economy to reach that level of vaccination achieved.
The roll-out of vaccines in Britain, which has been ahead of those in the European Union and the United States, means the country is on track to ease lockdown measures and reopen the economy in line with its plan, Hancock said.
“The vaccination program is our way out of the pandemic,” Hancock told Sky News Saturday. Official data showed that 26.9 million people had received a first dose of vaccine, up from 26.3 million the previous day.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who received the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday, tweeted “Let’s get going” after announcing that half of all adults had had a first shot.
Still, concerns about a new wave of infections in mainland Europe grew as the number of cases increased in Germany and France, among others. A scientist advising the government warned on Saturday that holidays abroad this summer are “extremely unlikely” for most Britons due to the risk of importing new variants of COVID-19.
When asked if infection rates elsewhere in Europe concerned him, Hancock said Britain should remain vigilant but saw no threat to plans to gradually reopen shops, pubs and restaurants starting April 12. make progress as outlined in the roadmap, ”said Hancock.
The introduction of vaccinations in Britain, using the AstraZeneca and Pfizer shots, is one of the fastest in the world. Israel tops the world in terms of the proportion of the population it has inoculated, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Chile, and then the UK.
In comparison, 23% of the US population has received at least one dose of a vaccine and less than a tenth of the EU population has been vaccinated.
ON TRACK FOR GOALS
The UK government has said it aims to give at least one chance to everyone over 50 by mid-April and to every adult by the end of July, goals that Hancock said would be met.
Famous London landmarks such as Westminister Abbey and the Science Museum, as well as local mosques and football stadiums, have housed vaccination clinics.
The state health service also said that 2.1 million people, or 4% of the population, have received a second dose and that nearly 95% of those over 60 have been vaccinated.
The EU, meanwhile, is trying to get its vaccine program back on track after at least 13 countries temporarily halted use of the AstraZeneca shot last week over safety concerns.
The European Medicines Agency has since said that the benefits of protecting humans outweighed the potential risks of the vaccine, but the reputation damage from the AstraZeneca shot could further slow the pace of the rollout.
The struggle to secure the supply of vaccines puts Britain and the EU at odds with vaccine exports. The EU threatened to ban shipments to Great Britain on Wednesday.
In April, Britain warned that the rollout will slow due to a supply shortage caused by a delayed shipment from India and the need to retest one batch of vaccines.
Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Andrew Heavens and David Holmes