UK: More than 137,000 receive coronavirus vaccine

LONDON

More than 137,000 people have been inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine in the UK, the chief of the vaccination program said Wednesday.

Nadhim Zahawi, minister responsible for COVID vaccine deployment, evaluated the number “a really good start.”

He tweeted: “It’s been 7 days and we have done: England:108,000 Wales: 7,897 Northern Ireland: 4,000. Scotland:18,000 U.K Total 137,897.”

Zahawi added that the number will increase “as we have operationalized hundreds of PCN (primary care networks).”

Britain is the first country to start using Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which provides 95% protection against the virus.

The government has rolled out the jab since last Monday after its approval by the local regulators.

The vaccine uses innovative mRNA technology and it was the first to publish an early analysis from its phase 3 trials, in which 43,000 people worldwide took part.

Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) is offering the COVID-19 vaccine to people most at risk from coronavirus in hospitals, local vaccination centers and doctors’ surgeries.

It is currently given to some people aged 80 and over who already have a hospital appointment in the next few weeks, people who live or work in care homes, and health care workers at high risk, according to an NHS announcement.

The UK has the highest death toll from COVID-19 across Europe with 64,908 fatalities since the start of the pandemic, according to official data.