LONDON (AP) – Britain began offering coronavirus vaccinations on Tuesday to anyone over 45 after reaching its goal of giving at least one dose to anyone over 50 by mid-April.
Despite the good news, Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the UK would inevitably see “more hospitalizations and deaths” if it emerges from the lockdown. Monday, non-essential shops, hairdressers, gyms, restaurant patios and beer gardens reopened in England.
Days before the self-imposed April 15 deadline, the government said everyone in the highest priority groups – over 50s, health workers and those with serious medical conditions – had been injected, and about 95% of them received one. More than 32 million people, more than 60% of the adults in the country, have had a first injection and nearly 15% of adults have received both doses.
Vaccine eligibility was extended to people aged 45-49 on Tuesday, the start of the second phase of the vaccination campaign. The government is aiming to give everyone over 18 years of age at least one dose by July 31.
The move came the day after some lockdown rules in effect for more than three months were lifted in England. Relieved residents flocked to areas such as London’s nightlife district of Soho, where the tables lined narrow streets closed to traffic.
Civil servants in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are relaxing their restrictions at a slightly different pace. Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that an order to ‘stay local’ would be lifted on Friday, when people will be able to travel within the country and meet others outside.
Politicians and scientists tried to dampen the euphoria at the return of some freedoms with the warning that the virus is still a major threat.
Britain has had the deadliest coronavirus outbreak in Europe, with more than 127,000 confirmed deaths. A combination of rapid vaccination and lockdown has greatly reduced infection and death rates.
“Of course the vaccination program has helped, but most of the work to reduce the disease has been done through the lockdown,” Johnson said.
So when we unlock, the result will inevitably be that we will see more infection. Unfortunately, we will see more hospitalizations and deaths. People just have to understand that, ”he said.
Several of Britain’s neighbors, including France, have imposed new lockdown curbs as virus cases increase.
Chris Hopson, CEO of the NHS Providers health service, agreed that there were “good reasons to be cautious” about the pandemic trajectory in Britain.
“We have to be very careful to assume that we are on a one-way street, unrelenting and inevitable, that everything is fantastic and that we can get back to normal because actually we need a new normal,” said Hopson.
The pace of vaccination coverage in Britain has slowed in recent weeks, with the number of first doses dropping sharply as the campaign focuses on delivering second injections.
Like many countries, Britain is also receiving fewer doses than hoped for, in part as a result of India’s decision to stop exporting its Serum Institute’s Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
Britain has ordered 30 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, although UK regulators have not yet approved its use. Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday it was delaying the rollout of the vaccine in Europe amid a US probe for rare blood clots in some recipients.
The UK vaccination efforts so far have used the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine and a vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech. Britain has also ordered 17 million doses of a vaccine made by US pharmaceutical company Moderna, with the first batches arriving earlier this month.
The Moderna doses will mainly be given to younger people, following Britain’s decision last week not to give the AstraZeneca shot to those under 30 due to the reinforcing evidence that it may be linked to rare blood clots.
Adam Finn, a member of the UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, said the vaccination campaign so far meant “we are half way up the hill”.
“We certainly have an important task in bringing the importance of the vaccination program to the attention of young people,” Finn told Sky News. “They may have less fear of this disease than the elderly, understandably, but still I think people can be helped to understand that the ultimate way out of this disaster is building immunity in the population.”
Health authorities are also concerned about new variants that are more resistant to vaccines. They are calling on anyone living or working in two boroughs of South London to get tested after 44 cases of a strain first identified in South Africa have been confirmed there.
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