LONDON: half of all adults Brittany have now received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, making the country the first large economy in the world to take this step, the Minister of Health Matt hancock said Saturday.
Britain hit that figure after administering a record 660,276 shots a day earlier, Hancock said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which had AstraZenecaFriday’s vaccination, “Let’s continue” tweeted.
Israel is the leader in immunizing its population, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Chile, then the United Kingdom – and investors are watching closely the economies which are showing the first signs of recovery.
The UK government has announced plans to give at least one injection to everyone over 50 by mid-April and to all adults by the end of July. During that time, he plans to ease lockdown restrictions as shops, pubs and restaurants prepare to reopen next month.
“The vaccine is a national achievement and our way out of this pandemic,” Hancock said.
In comparison, over 20% of the US population received at least one dose and less than a tenth of the EU population.
The European Union – where there are growing concerns about a new wave of infections – is pushing to get vaccines back on track after at least 13 countries temporarily suspend use of the AstraZeneca vaccine last week for security reasons.
The European Medicines Agency has since said that the benefits of protecting people from coronavirus-related death or hospitalization outweighed the possible risks of the vaccine.
Led by its state-run health service, Britain’s rapid rollout of AstraZeneca and Pfizer injections is expected to slow in April, due to a shipping delay and the need to retest a batch of vaccines.
The vaccination race has left Britain and the European Union at odds over vaccine exports. The EU threatened on Wednesday to ban vaccine exports to Britain, which imports Pfizer’s vaccine from Europe.