Success of the vaccination campaign across the Channel.

More than 20 million people in the United Kingdom have already received a first dose of the vaccine against Covid-19, the British government rejoiced on Sunday February 28.

"Twenty million people across the UK have now received the vaccine - a huge national achievement," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Twitter.

He asked anyone called to receive the vaccine to accept it, because "every injection makes a difference in our battle against Covid".

20 million people across the UK have now got the jab - a huge national achievement and a testament to the tireless work of NHS staff, volunteers, the Armed Forces & many more.



I urge everyone to get the jab when called.

Every jab makes a difference in our battle against COVID.

pic.twitter.com/kdkB2EkGlS

- Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) February 28, 2021

 Saying "absolutely delighted" by this new level, the Minister of Health, Matt Hancock, thanked "everyone who showed up for an injection, because we know with more and more certainty that the vaccine will give you protect, protect your community, and it is also the way out for all of us. " 

"There is still a long way to go but we are making great strides," he added in a video posted on Twitter. 

According to official figures released on Sunday, 20,089,551 first doses were administered, with the number of second doses reaching 796,132.

>> To read: The difficulties of the vaccination campaign in the EU, "the best pub" for Brexit?

A first dose for everyone over 50 by April 15

Very hard hit by the pandemic with around 123,000 dead, the United Kingdom and its 66 million inhabitants are counting on mass vaccination to get out of the containment put in place since January to contain a new very virulent wave, attributed to a variant most contagious appeared in the south of England. 

"With vaccine supplies set to increase in March, we plan to accelerate further as we approach Easter," England Director General of the Public Health Service (NHS) Simon Stevens said. 

As part of this campaign, launched in early December and one of the most advanced in the world, the government aims for everyone over 50 to have received a first dose of vaccine by April 15, then all adults at the end of July. .

A decline in the number of deaths and contaminations

Then, in order not to slow its progress, vaccination will continue according to age rather than exposed professions such as police officers and teachers, according to the recommendation of the scientific committee overseeing the campaign.

Priority will thus be given to people aged 40 to 49, then to those in their thirties and finally to adults between 18 and 29 years old.

The government had previously achieved its goal of partially vaccinating in mid-February, with the Pfizer / BioNTech and AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccines currently being deployed, the estimated 15 million over 70, caregivers, residents and nursing home workers. 

The number of contaminations and deaths has fallen for a few weeks, and confinement will be very gradually relaxed between March and the end of June.

But the authorities called on the population not to let their guard down and to continue to respect the restrictions in place. 

With AFP

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