More than half of the adult population in England has received the first dose of vaccine against Covid-19, the health service announced today, after 708,927 first and second doses of vaccines were distributed yesterday, Reuters reported. Nine out of ten people aged 65 and older took the opportunity to be immunized.
Health Minister Matt Hancock told parliament today that Britain would have to delay its vaccination campaign next month due to delayed deliveries of millions of doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from India and the need to test the stability of 1.7 million doses without specifying however, the manufacturer.
Health authorities have warned that the vaccination program could face a significant reduction in supplies from March 29 onwards.
The UK uses vaccines from PfizerBiontech and AstraZeneca, with 10 million doses out of the 100 million ordered from AstraZeneca coming from the Indian Serum Institute. The institute said it had delivered 5 million doses to the UK a few weeks ago, but said the contract did not specify a delivery date. The head of the Serum Institute, Adar Punawala, was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph that deliveries depended on how many doses the Indian government would allow to be sent to the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the Oxford / AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines in Britain were safe, adding that he would be vaccinated with AstraZeneca tomorrow.
“The Oxford vaccine is safe and the Pfizer vaccine is also safe. What is not safe is getting covid, and that’s why it’s important that we all get vaccinated as soon as it’s our turn,” Johnson told a news conference. Downing Street.
“Actually, tomorrow (Friday, March 19) I will be vaccinated myself, and the center where the vaccine will be given to me is now using the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine … and I will be vaccinated with it,” Johnson said. .
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