UK reports record 1,820 COVID-19 deaths

LONDON

The UK reported 1,820 more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday in a new record high.

The new figure is 13% or 210 more than Tuesday’s fatalities of 1,610.

The death toll with the latest addition has reached a staggering 93,290.

British health authorities also reported 38,905 new infections, bringing the tally of cases to 294,182.

Also, 28,543 people have been admitted to hospital in the last seven days, according to the latest data.

As one of the earliest countries to have rolled out a vaccination program, 4.6 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine.

The National Health Service data shows 460,625 people have received the second dose so far.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said they aim to administer the vaccine to around 15 million people by mid February.

The UK will need to look at new data that Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine provides less protection after the first dose than the levels found in trials, the country’s chief scientific adviser said Wednesday.

Speaking to Sky News, Sir Patrick Vallance said the UK government would "just need to keep measuring the numbers" as the vaccine is rolled out across the country.

Israeli scientists claimed in a study that the vaccine’s efficacy after a single dose was 33% instead of 89%, which trials showed.

“We need to look at this very carefully, we just need to keep measuring the numbers," Vallance said.

The British government has adopted a policy to offer the second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine as late as 12 weeks after the first dose is administered, based on the claimed single-dose protection of 89%.