[ad_1]
The UK has sufficient vaccine supplies to ensure Britons can receive their second doses without interruption, said the NHS England chief medical officer for primary care.
Weeks after the health service warned that the country will face a “significant reduction” in the availability of coronavirus hits next month, Dr. Nikki Kanani said: “The offer during April is slower, but we know we will keep going.
“We have enough vaccine to give people the second doses, those second doses are protected, and we have enough vaccine to protect people in the priority cohorts.”
More than 2.5 million people have already received their second dose of a COVID-19 jab – with more than one in three of those taking place in the last week.
About 900,000 people received their final vaccination in the past seven days, roughly double the previous week.
Dr Kanani added: “The NHS is reaching out to people aged 50 to 69 who have not yet accepted the offer to get vaccinated.
“If you are one of those people who has not yet booked a first dose, please come forward and get the COVID-19 vaccine that saved your life, which will not only protect you, but also those around you.”
According to The Mail on Sunday, the first 500,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine are expected to arrive imminently, further boosting the launch.
Meanwhile, The Sunday Times claims that the UK plans to offer 3.7 million hits to Ireland to help ease lockdown restrictions in Northern Ireland.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘I’ll go to the pub in a few days’
In other developments, the prime minister is urged to immediately start donating vaccines to poorer nations, with charities warning that the UK is at high risk of “hogging a limited supply, while healthcare workers and the most vulnerable in low- and middle-income countries have no access. “
Wellcome and Save The Children UK have written to Boris Johnson, noting that the UK is on track to have more than 100 million surplus doses.
“The UK will have enough surplus doses of vaccines to vaccinate the world’s front-line healthcare workers twice,” the letter said.
His message also pointed to figures suggesting that the uneven distribution of blows could end up costing the UK £ 106bn.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Wales taking small steps towards normality
Sir Jeremy Farrar, a SAGE scientist who runs Wellcome, said: “Now is the time to think beyond our borders. The world will not be safe as long as one country is still fighting the virus.”
Although the UK has made much more progress in launching vaccines than many other countries, England’s NHS National Medical Director warned that COVID-19 still has the ability to “wreak more havoc and health problems on a significant scale” .
Professor Stephen Powis said the country’s outlook “looks immeasurably brighter and more positive” but said easing some restrictions in England tomorrow “does not mean a job done.”
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph before the end of England’s stay-at-home order, with the reopening of outdoor sports facilities and the rule of six, Professor Powis said: “We have made enormous progress in which we must take advantage of and not waste the progress we have made. We have to stay on our nerves. “
Mr johnson also played a cautious note during a discussion on the Conservatives’ spring virtual forum, where he warned that a “third wave” in parts of Europe could hit the UK three weeks later.
The four stages of lifting the blockade of England
Despite this, the prime minister said that his roadmap to ease England’s closure restrictions may continue as planned, paving the way for non-essential retailers, hairdressers and outdoor hospitality to return on 12 April.
The latest daily figures, released on Saturday, showed that 4,715 people tested positive for COVID-19. A total of 38,937 new infections have been reported in the past seven days, a 4% increase from the previous week.
Government data also shows that another 58 people died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19, bringing the UK total to 126,573.
