London:
The UK’s overall health service on Monday declared it had hit a new “exciting milestone” in its COVID-19 vaccination programme as it confirmed that all adults aged 25 and more than will be supplied their initially dose of a vaccine from Tuesday.
The expansion of the vaccine drive coincided with the UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s statement to the House of Commons, exactly where the minister revealed that vaccines have averted an estimated 39,000 hospitalisations and more than 13,000 deaths in the nation.
He also mentioned that of 12,386 circumstances of the Delta variant – or the B1.617.2 variant initially detected in India – 126 individuals had been admitted to hospital and of these, 83 had been unvaccinated, 28 had one dose and 3 had two doses.
“Every day brings with it another exciting milestone in our vaccination programme – the largest and most successful in NHS history,” mentioned Hancock.
“The vaccine is saving lives and preventing hospitalisations. Two weeks after we extended the invite to all over 30s, we are now extending the offer to everyone aged 25 and over,” he mentioned.
The National Health Service (NHS) has dubbed the most up-to-date expansion of its vaccination programme as the “Home Straight” phase, as about 3 million individuals aged amongst 25 and 29 will commence becoming invited to book their initially vaccine dose.
The move comes as NHS information shows that more than half of all adults in the nation are now completely vaccinated against COVID-19.
“We have one of the highest uptake rates in the world with over half of the UK population having the fullest possible protection from two doses, and over three quarters receiving at least one dose. The vaccine is our way out of this pandemic so when you get the call, get the jab,” mentioned Hancock.
According to previously released professional suggestions, each doses of the COVID-19 vaccines are necessary for powerful protection against the Delta variant – which is now feared to be the dominant variant of concern (VOC) behind infections in the UK.
“It is too early to make decisions on step four, the road map has always been guided by the data and as before, we need four weeks between steps to see the latest data and a further week to give notice of our decision. So we”ll assess the data and announce the outcome a week today,” Hancock told the Commons, in reference to the June 21 timeline for an finish to all lockdown restrictions.
Hancock also informed Parliament that he has asked the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to provide clinical suggestions on the vaccination of 12-17-year-olds following the Pfizer/BioNTech jabs received regulatory approval for children last week.
Meanwhile, NHS England chief executive, Sir Simon Stevens, hailed the “watershed moment” of a additional extension of the vaccination programme six months considering that 90-year-old Maggie Keenan became the initially individual anyplace in the world to acquire her initially dose on December 8, 2020.
“The NHS vaccination programme is a real team effort and it is a testament to NHS teams across the country, that we are able to open up to people in their twenties just six months on from delivering that world first jab to Maggie Keenan,” mentioned Stevens.
“Getting the lifesaving COVID-19 jab is the most important thing you can do, with NHS staff vaccinating at over 1,600 sites including vaccine buses, places of worship, sport stadiums and other convenient locations,” he added.
The most up-to-date COVID-19 statistics released on Monday recorded one more death from the deadly virus in the UK and 5,683 circumstances of coronavirus infections inside the neighborhood.
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