LONDON (Reuters) – Britain becomes the first country to introduce the cheap and easy-to-transport vaccine AstraZeneca and Oxford University COVID-19 on Monday, another step forward in the global response to the pandemic.
Six hospitals in England will be the first to administer about 530,000 doses that Britain has ready. The program will expand to hundreds of other UK sites in the coming days, and the government hopes it will deliver tens of millions of doses within months.
“This is a pivotal moment in our fight against this terrible virus and I hope it gives everyone renewed hope that the end of this pandemic is in sight,” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said in a statement.
Last month, Great Britain was the first country to use another vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech, which must be stored at very low temperatures. Britain has injected about a million people with it so far.
The Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and can be stored at refrigerator temperature, making it easier to transport and use. India approved the vaccine for emergency use on Sunday.
Cases of COVID-19 in Britain have soared in recent weeks, fueled by a new and more transmissible variant of the virus. On Sunday there were nearly 55,000 new cases and in total more than 75,000 people in the country died with COVID-19 during the pandemic – the second highest toll in Europe.
Although the government had wanted to hail its vaccination program as the most advanced in the world, it had to balance the optimism of that message and implore the public to follow rules to prevent new infections.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that stricter restrictions would likely be introduced even as millions of citizens already live under the strictest rules.
The spread of the variant virus has also forced the government to change its approach to vaccination. Britain is now prioritizing giving the first dose of a vaccine to as many people as possible over giving a second dose. Delaying the distribution of second shots should help stretch the offer.
The change of strategy has been criticized by some British doctors.
Reporting by William James; Editing by Susan Fenton