Al Jazeera – But Prime Minister Boris Johnson says [the] first 530,000 doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines ready to be administered in the UK.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said tougher lockdown restrictions were probably on the way as COVID-19 cases keep rising in the United Kingdom, but that the roll-out of vaccines was set to accelerate on Monday with the first 530,000 doses of the newly approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines ready to be administered.
He added he hoped “tens of millions” would be treated over the next three months.
Cases of COVID-19 in the UK are at record levels, likely fuelled by a new and more transmissible variant of the virus. That has already forced the government to cancel the planned reopening of schools in and around London, with calls from teachers’ unions for wider closures.
Much of England is already at the highest Tier 4 level, which involves the closure of shops not selling non-essential items and places like gyms and recreation centers as well as a stay-at-home instruction.
But Johnson, asked in a BBC interview on Sunday about concerns that the system may not be enough to bring the virus back under control, said restrictions “alas, might be about to get tougher”.
