LONDON (AP) – The UK announced on Sunday that it has achieved its goal of giving at least one COVID-19 vaccine to the most vulnerable people in the country, increasing pressure on ministers to make it clear when lockdown imposed in early January. .
More than 15 million people, or 22% of the UK population, have received their first injection. The figure includes most of the people in the government’s top four priority groups, including anyone over the age of 75, primary care health workers and nursing home workers and residents. More than 537,000 of them have also received their second dose.
“15,000,000! Great team, ″ Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, said in a tweet with a red heart and three syringes. “We will not rest until we offer the vaccine to all of Phase 1, the 1-9 categories of the most vulnerable and all over 50s, and all adults at the end of April.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to unveil his roadmap for easing restrictions on February 22, amid signs that infections, hospitalizations and deaths have fallen sharply since England’s third national lockdown began on January 4.
“This country has done an extraordinary job, injecting a total of 15 million into the arms of some of the most vulnerable people in the country,” Johnson said in a tweet.
Johnson said in England that everyone in the top four priority groups had received the vaccine. He plans to release further details on the vaccination effort on Monday.
Jockeying has already begun between those who want the measures to be lifted as soon as possible and those who fear moving too quickly will lead to a resurgence of the virus.
Britain got a head start in its vaccination effort in December, when it became the first country to allow widespread use of a COVID-19 injection. According to the University of Oxford, it only ranks behind Israel, 73%, the Seychelles, 53% and the UAE, 51% in the percentage of people who received one dose. The US is in fifth place with 15%.
At the same time, the coronavirus shutdown rules that have closed down schools, restaurants and non-essential stores in the UK are starting to bear fruit. The number of new infections, hospitalizations and deaths in the past seven days has all decreased by more than 20% from the previous week.
When Johnson announced the lockdown, he said the government would review the measures in mid-February based on their success in controlling the pandemic and progress in vaccination efforts. Johnson’s first priority is to reopen schools, and he has pledged to give schools two weeks notice to give teachers time to prepare.
Britain has reported more than 117,000 virus-related deaths, the highest pandemic toll in Europe.
Mark Harper, a lawmaker for the ruling Conservative Party, has warned the government against “moving the goalposts” because it has decided when the lockdown should be relaxed.
Johnson should start reopening schools and then gradually lift other restrictions as more people get vaccinated, said Harper, who leads a group of about 70 lawmakers who have lobbied the government to consider the negative economic and social consequences of the restrictions. , along with its health benefits. .
“Once you protect people from serious illness and death, I don’t think these draconian limitations of not being able to meet your family, not seeing your friends, not seeing your kids, not seeing your parents, not visiting people in care homes, I don’t think they are more justifiable, ”Harper told Times Radio.
After meeting the target of reaching the most vulnerable, the UK authorities will gradually expand the vaccination program to the following five priority groups until everyone over 50 and vulnerable younger people with health conditions that put them at higher risk of the virus have the vaccine got.
According to public health officials, the top nine priority groups to date are responsible for 99% of deaths from COVID-19.
While the vaccines currently approved for use in the UK require two doses to ensure complete protection against COVID-19, the UK authorities say one dose provides a significant level of protection.
That’s why they have made it their priority to give the first dose to as many people as possible as soon as possible. To do this, Great Britain plans to give a second dose after three months, instead of one month as recommended by the manufacturers.
Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust health think tank, said the rate of COVID-19 infections in Britain is still too high to consider removing the restrictions.
“We’ve made huge strides… but the transmission is still incredibly high and we need to get it lower,” he said.
There are other dangers on the horizon. Scientific advisers to the UK government say the COVID-19 variant that is now predominant in the country can be up to 70% more deadly than previous variants, underscoring concerns about how mutations may alter the characteristics of the disease.
The findings of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group, published Friday on the government’s website, build on preliminary research released Jan. 21. The group, known as NERVTAG, includes experts from universities and public authorities in the UK
The new report is based on analysis of a dozen studies that found the so-called Kent variant, named after the province where it was first identified, is likely 30% to 70% more deadly than other variants. The studies compared hospital admissions and death rates among people infected with the variant and those infected with other variants.
The results of the analysis are worrying, said Dr. David Strain, a senior clinical professor at the University of Exeter Medical School and the clinical leader for COVID at Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital.
“The higher transmissibility means that people who previously had a low risk of contracting COVID (especially younger, fitter females) now catch it and end up in the hospital,” said Strain. “This is underscored by the latest hospital admissions figures which now indicate a male to female ratio of close to 50:50, while this is mainly among males during the first wave.”
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