UK hits target of the jab for everyone ahead of time

A woman receives the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London on July 16. Pic/AFP

The UK government on Sunday declared it had hit its target of offering every adult in the country a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of this month ahead of time.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said a total of 81,959,398 doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the UK, with 46,227,101 people receiving a first dose (87.8 per cent) and 35,732,297 people receiving both doses (67.8 per cent).

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had set targets to offer a vaccine to all adults in the UK and to vaccinate two in three adults with both doses by July 19 and DHSC said both targets have now been achieved ahead of the so-called ‘Freedom Day' on Monday, when England is to emerge from all legal lockdown restrictions.

"Barely eight months since the first vaccine was given, reaching these targets is another extraordinary achievement," said Johnson, who is now in self-isolation at his Chequers country retreat after being alerted of his contact with Covid positive Health Secretary Sajid Javid. Chancellor Rishi Sunak is also self-isolating.

"Thank you again to everyone coming forward, and to those helping others to get jabbed. You are the reason we are able to cautiously ease restrictions next week, and return closer towards normal life. Now let's finish the job. If you're over 18, book both your jabs today," he said.

All adults in the UK are able to get their second doses after a gap of eight weeks, shortened from 12 weeks to cover more people with added protection against the Delta variant's spread in the country. This means every adult has the chance to have both doses by mid-September, DHSC said.

Also read: Covid-19 cases rise by 3,078 in 24 hours in India

Cases surging in Italy; Euro 2020 link

Daily new caseloads of confirmed Covid-19 infections are surging in Italy. Health experts say it's clear nationwide celebrations by fans after European Championship soccer matches are a significant factor. Thousands of fans jammed Rome's streets on July 12 to cheer the national team, which won Euro 2020. The newly confirmed cases in Lazio region that includes Rome were more in past three days. The region had the highest daily new cases on Saturday.

UK to launch programmes to study long-Covid

The UK government has allocated nearly 20 million pounds ($27.5 million) to launch 15 new research programmes to study the so-called long Covid - a condition wherein people suffer Covid-19 symptoms, such as fatigue and neurological disorders for a longer period than usual, the Department of Health and Social Care said on Sunday.

4,91,468
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours

18,86,55,968
Total no. of cases worldwide

40,67,517
Total no. of deaths worldwide

Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins

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