LONDON (AP) – The UK opened seven massive vaccination centers on Monday as it entered the most dangerous moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, with exhausted medical staff under the pressure of overcrowded hospitals and increasing admissions.
The English Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Chris Whitty, warned people to take strict measures to prevent the spread of the virus while waiting their turn for a vaccination. The government is trying to vaccinate about 15 million people by February 15, but the UK’s National Health Service is struggling to treat those who are now sick.
“I think everyone accepts that this is the most dangerous time we’ve really had in terms of numbers for the NHS,” Whitty told the BBC.
People in the UK are already facing serious coronavirus restrictions, but political leaders are considering tightening the rules further as a new, more transmissible variant of COVID-19 exacerbates the healthcare crisis. Leaders want to vaccinate the country out of the crisis, but now that hospitals are under siege, they need to convince the public to take prevention methods more seriously.
“We’re not ruling out taking further action when needed, but it’s your actions that can make the difference now: stay home!” That said Health Minister Matt Hancock during a press conference on Monday.
Britain, with more than 81,000 deaths, has the deadliest virus toll in Europe and the number of hospital beds filled with COVID-19 patients has been on a steady rise for over a month. UK hospitals are now treating 55% more COVID-19 cases than during the pandemic’s first spike in April.
“Everyone knows what to do. And I think that’s the most important thing: minimize the number of contacts, ”Whitty said.
England entered a third national lockdown last week that closed all non-essential shops, schools, colleges and universities for at least six weeks. The lockdown is a bit looser than the spring, with many more workplaces and businesses open, but police across the country have imposed fines for breaking rules requiring people to stay at home, except for essential reasons such as exercising or running errands .
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government hopes the restrictions will ease pressure on the NHS as it ramps up a nationwide mass vaccination program with vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and a second from Oxford-AstraZeneca. A third vaccine approved for use, by Moderna, won’t arrive until the spring.
Seven large-scale vaccination centers open and join approximately 1,000 other locations across the country, including hospitals, GP clinics and drug stores.
At a vaccination center in Stevenage, north London, medical workers who administered injections described the mood as marked by relief and joy.
“They have actually been quite emotional, really glad there is some hope at the end of this tunnel, this very long tunnel for everyone,” said Caroline Shepherd, clinical expert on immunizations at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust. “A few people (were) quite teary and said, ‘I’m really happy to be here, thank you so much, we’re really grateful to the NHS.’ ”
So far, nearly 2.3 million people in the UK have received a COVID-19 vaccine. The government’s goal is to vaccinate the most vulnerable by mid-February, targeting people over 70, primary health care workers, nursing home residents and staff and others who are particularly vulnerable. That will protect the people responsible for nearly 90% of coronavirus-related deaths and potentially allow restrictions to be relaxed, the government says.
“(But) we can’t be complacent,” Johnson said on a visit to a vaccination center in Bristol. “The worst thing now would be if we allowed the success of the rollout of a vaccine program to cultivate any kind of complacency about the state of the pandemic.”
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Jill Lawless contributed to this report.
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