London, Dec 16 (EFE) .- Almost 138,000 people have been vaccinated against covid-19 in the United Kingdom during the first week of the immunization plan, the Government reported on Wednesday.
The British Deputy Minister of Health, Nadhim Zahawi, in charge of overseeing this extensive program, indicated on his Twitter account that 137,897 people have been vaccinated in the first seven days with the medication developed by Pfizer-BioNTech.
The figure does not include people vaccinated by doctors at local health centers or by nurses at community clinics, where treatment began on Monday.
More than 70 hospitals participated in vaccinations last week and another ten joined this week.
The program for the most vulnerable groups, especially the elderly, began on December 8, a few days after British regulators gave the green light to the Pfizer-BioNTech preparation.
The bulk of vaccinations for the nine vulnerable groups is expected to take place in the first months of 2021.
Regulatory authorities, meanwhile, are evaluating the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, whose approval is expected in the coming weeks.
The strong increase in coronavirus cases has forced the Government to place London and some areas of the counties of Essex and Hertforshire at alert level 3 (very high), which forces the closure of gyms, restaurants and bars unless let them sell take out food or make home deliveries.
In addition, indoor social gatherings are not allowed and only gatherings between people from different homes outside and up to a maximum of six people will be allowed.
Health authorities have linked the disturbing rise in infections with the emergence of a new variant of the coronavirus, which is being examined at Porton Down, a specialized government laboratory in the county of Wiltshire (southern English). EFE
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