Britain ... more than 20 million people receive the vaccine against Corona

More than 20 million people received the first dose of the Coronavirus vaccine in Britain, according to what the government, which is relying on vaccination to get out of the health crisis, announced.

The announcement comes at a time when the country of 66 million people, which has been severely affected by the epidemic, is concerned about the discovery of a new mutated version on its soil that appeared in Manaus, Brazil, and is considered more dangerous.

"20 million people across the UK have now received the vaccine," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a tweet, noting that it was a "huge national achievement".

He asked everyone to accept the vaccine because "every injection makes a difference in our battle against Covid."

For his part, Health Minister Matt Hancock said he was "extremely happy" to have crossed this new threshold.

In a video posted on Twitter, Hancock thanked "everyone who came to receive the dose, because we have become more confident than before that the vaccine protects you, protects your community, and is also the way out for us all."

"There is still a long way to go, but we are making great strides," he added.

Official figures published Sunday indicate that 20,089,551 first doses and 796,132 second doses have been administered.

The United Kingdom has been hit hard by the epidemic, which has killed about 123,000 people, and is relying on mass vaccination to exit the lockdown in effect since January to contain a highly contagious wave of the Coronavirus, which is attributed to a mutated virus that appeared in southern England.

"With the increase in vaccine supplies scheduled for March, we intend to accelerate even more as we approach Easter," said Simon Stevens, Director of Public Health England.

With the vaccination campaign it launched in early December, one of the most advanced in the world, the government aims to give the first dose to all people over the age of 50 by April 15, and then to all adults at the end of July.

The vaccination campaign will continue according to age, instead of workers in vulnerable professions such as police and teachers, based on the recommendation of the scientific committee supervising the campaign.

Priority will, therefore, be given to people between the ages of 40 and 49, then to those in their 30s and finally to adults between the ages of 18 and 29.

The government had achieved its goal of vaccinating about 15 million people over the age of 70, caregivers, residents and workers in nursing homes, in mid-February, using the Pfizer / Bionic and now AstraZeneca / Oxford vaccines.

Meanwhile, death and infection rates have decreased significantly across the country in recent weeks, and the strict lockdown measures taken to curb the virus between March and the end of June will ease.

The government called on the population not to be complacent and to proceed with respecting the measures in force.

But, coinciding with the progress made in the country in terms of the vaccination campaign, the health authorities announced Sunday that they had discovered six cases of people infected with a mutated version of the virus that was initially detected in Manaus, northern Brazil, and could be more contagious and resist existing vaccines.

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