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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to outline stricter restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19, even as Britain stepped up its vaccination program by becoming the first nation to start using the injection developed by the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical AstraZeneca.
Johnson, who has said tougher measures are imminent, announced that he will address the nation at 8pm (9am New Zealand time).
The measures would include school closings for most students and people will be asked to work from home unless they cannot do their work remotely or are key workers, the BBC reported, adding that the measures would take effect. starting at midnight.
The UK has seen an increase in coronavirus cases in recent weeks as public health officials struggle to control the spread of a new variant of Covid-19 that is more contagious than previous variants. Authorities have recorded more than 50,000 new infections a day since they first passed that milestone on December 29. On Monday, they reported 407 virus-related deaths to bring the total confirmed deaths to 75,431, one of the worst in Europe.
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Stefan Rousseau / AP
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson raises his thumb as his temperature is checked during a visit to Chase Farm Hospital.
“If you look at the numbers, there is no question that we will have to take stricter action and announce them in due course,” Johnson said while visiting some of the people who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at Chase Farm Hospital in the north. From london. .
Before Johnson could make his announcement, Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon imposed a lockdown on her nation until the end of January.
Starting Tuesday, people in Scotland will be required to stay home, except for essential reasons, to help ease pressure on hospitals and intensive care units, Sturgeon said. Under the new rules, people can go outside to exercise, but they can only meet one person from another household. The schools will remain closed until February, except for the children of key workers and social care workers.
Steve Parsons / AP
A nurse holds a vial of the University of Oxford / AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.
“I am more concerned about the situation we are facing now than at any time since March last year,” Sturgeon said in Edinburgh.
Scotland, which controls its own health policy under the UK’s decentralized system of government, has often imposed stricter coronavirus restrictions than England’s.
The announcements come on the day that UK health authorities began gunning the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine across the country, fueling hopes that life may start to return to normal in the UK spring United.
Steve Parsons / AP
Brian Pinker, an 82-year-old dialysis patient, received the first injection of Oxford-AstraZeneca at Oxford University Hospital.
Britain has secured the rights to 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is cheaper and easier to use than some of its rivals. In particular, it does not require the super cold storage necessary for Pfizer vaccine.
The new vaccine will be administered in a small number of hospitals during the first days so authorities can be on the lookout for any adverse reactions. But the NHS said hundreds of new vaccination sites, including local medical offices, will open later this week, joining the more than 700 vaccination sites already in operation.
A “massive acceleration operation” is now underway on the vaccination program, Johnson said.
But some aspects of Britain’s vaccination plan have sparked controversy.
Gareth Fuller / AP
Britain has secured the rights to 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Both vaccines require two injections, and Pfizer recommended that the second dose be given within 21 days of the first. But the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization said authorities should give the first dose of the vaccine to as many people as possible, rather than reserving injections to ensure that others get two doses. You have extended the time between doses from 21 days to 12 weeks.
While two doses are required to fully protect against Covid-19, both vaccines provide high levels of protection after the first dose, the committee said. Making the first dose the priority “will maximize the benefits of the vaccination program in the short term,” he said.
Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said lawmakers are forced to balance the potential risks of this change with the benefits amid a deadly pandemic.
“We have a crisis situation in the UK with a new variant that is spreading rapidly, and it has become clear to everyone during 2020 that delays cost lives,” Evans said. “When resources for doses and people to vaccinate are limited, then vaccinating more people with potentially less efficacy is demonstrably better than more comprehensive efficacy by just half.”
Stefan Rousseau / AP
UK health authorities are putting the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine into arms across the country, fueling hopes that life may start to return to normal in the UK spring.
In England alone, 24,957 people were in hospitals with Covid-19 on Sunday. While the figures for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have not been updated in recent days, that’s higher than the peak across the UK during the first wave of the pandemic.
The government closed non-essential stores in London and parts of south-eastern England before Christmas to try to contain the new variant, but health officials say stricter measures are now needed.
Johnson said there are “tough, tough” weeks to come in the fight against Covid-19. More school closings, curfews and a total ban on domestic mixing could be on the agenda.
While schools in London are already closed due to high infection rates in the capital, students in many parts of the country were returning to face-to-face classes on the Monday after Christmas holidays. However, unions representing teachers have called for schools across England to be closed for at least two weeks, and for classes to be switched to distance learning.
But with vaccination there is hope. Brian Pinker, an 82-year-old dialysis patient, received his first Oxford-AstraZeneca injection at 7:30 am (local time) at Oxford University Hospital.
“Today’s nurses, doctors, and staff have been brilliant, and I am now looking forward to celebrating my 48th wedding anniversary with my wife, Shirley, later this year,” Pinker said in a statement released by the National Health Service. Health.
