Half of the UK’s adult population has now received its first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the British health secretary has announced.
Matt Hancock said more people received the jab on Friday than on any other day and praised the vaccine programme as a "national success story".
In a video posted on Twitter on Saturday morning, he said: “I’m absolutely delighted to tell you that we have now vaccinated half of all adults in the United Kingdom.
“It’s a huge success and I want to say many, many thanks to all those involved, including the half of all adults who have come forward.
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“The UK vaccination programme is a big success story. It’s down to the hard work of many, many people.”
The latest British government data up to March 18th suggested 49.9 per cent of the UK population aged 18 and over had received a first dose of the vaccine, with an estimated 73,000 more jabs needed to pass the halfway mark.
Those figures are expected to be updated on Saturday.
The announcement comes as countries across Europe have had to impose tougher restrictions amid a rise in Covid-19 cases, with UK scientists warning overseas holidays this summer will be "extremely unlikely".
Infectious disease expert Dr Mike Tildesley, member of the Spi-M modelling group, which advises the British government, said there was a danger that new variants could jeopardise the vaccination programme later in the year.
Other experts have warned there could be a third wave of Covid-19 infections in the UK and advised people not to consider overseas holidays when restrictions ease later this year.
Dr Tildesley told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think that international travel this summer is, for the average holidaymaker, sadly I think, extremely unlikely.
“I think we are running a real risk if we do start to have lots of people going overseas in July and August because of the potential for bringing more of these new variants back into the country.”
Variant
European countries are seeing pockets of the South African variant, with studies suggesting vaccines work less well against this variant.
In the UK, hospital admissions and deaths are still coming down due to the effect of vaccines, but there are worries that cases could rise quickly once restrictions are eased.
Prof Andrew Hayward, a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said while another wave was “likely” in the UK, the impact could be less deadly than previous ones.
He told Times Radio: “I think another wave is possible. Likely, even.
“I guess the difference is that another wave will cause substantially fewer deaths and hospitalisations because of high levels of vaccination across the sorts of people who would have ended up in hospital or unfortunately dying if they haven’t been vaccinated.”
Prof Dirk Brockmann, an epidemiologist at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, said British holidaymakers should not be considering European breaks when lockdown restrictions ease.
Resumed
The rollout of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine resumed in Ireland on Saturday following the decision to lift a temporary pause on its use, which was put in place due to concerns over reports of blood clots.
Countries including France, Germany and Italy have also begun restarting their vaccine programmes with the AstraZeneca jab.
Meanwhile, the French government announced that new lockdown restrictions would be imposed on Paris from midnight on Friday due to an increase in cases.
Prime minister Jean Castex said France was facing a "third wave" of the pandemic, adding the new measures will last for four weeks.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany may need to apply an "emergency break" on relaxing restrictions amid a rise in infections.
Poland begins a new three-week lockdown on Saturday, with shops, hotels, cultural and sporting facilities closed, while other countries including Italy and Spain have opted for curfews in a bid to reduce the rate of transmission. - PA