UK crosses Covid-19 vaccine target, contemplates easing lockdown

The UK has marked a vaccination milestone by immunizing over 15 million people against coronavirus.

The UK has passed its target to vaccinate almost 15 million of its most vulnerable citizens against coronavirus, cementing a record of delivering one of the most successful immunization programs in the world, a Bloomberg report said.

According to Bloomberg’s Vaccine Tracker, the UK administered 15.1 million doses as of Saturday. Almost 22% of the population has been given one dose, with less than 1% getting two shots, the report said.

According to Bloomberg, prime Minister Boris Johnson set the target at the start of the year with the aim of immunizing everyone over the age of 70, along with people who live or work in care homes, health service workers and those who are most vulnerable to Covid-19. These groups are estimated to account for about 88% of deaths from the disease in the UK.

For Johnson, whose government has been slammed for its handling of the pandemic that has claimed more than 117,000 lives, the achievement is a welcome political boost. But hitting the crucial vaccine target also opens up new risks for the government, the report said.

The vaccination program now offers a route out of the UK’s third lockdown, which has shuttered businesses and closed schools to most, compounding the damage of the worst economic slump in more than 300 years. Scientists also expect it to slow infections and limit the death toll, already the highest in Europe and the fifth-highest in the world.

Britain was the first western country to start rolling out vaccines and the first to extend the delay between first and second doses to 12 weeks in an effort to give as many people as possible at least some protection from the virus. The approach provoked skepticism initially but has since been endorsed by the World Health Organization, the Bloomberg report said.

Moreover, senior members of Johnson’s own Conservative government have been calling on him to move faster to ease restrictions and avert a wave of unemployment. Yet with infection levels still the highest in Europe, Johnson and his scientific advisers have explained they will need to stay cautious, with curbs remaining in place potentially for months to come, said the Bloomberg report.

Over the next week, the government will review the lockdown restrictions in the context of the infection and case rates, and the vaccination program. Then, on Feb. 22 the prime minister is due to announce his “road map” to unlock the country gradually over the months ahead.

On a visit Saturday to a vaccine manufacturing plant in Teesside in northeastern England, Johnson said he’s “optimistic” he’ll be able to detail plans for a “cautious” easing of restrictions this month.

If all goes well, schools will be the first to reopen, potentially on March 8. The Sunday Telegraph reported that individuals in England will be allowed to meet a friend for a coffee on a park bench from that day, a possible signal that pubs may be able to reopen with outdoor dining in time for the Easter holidays.

The government plans to offer a vaccine to everyone over the age of 50 by the end of April.

There are potential challenges ahead for managing the pandemic, too. Mutations of the virus, some of which show signs of resistance to the vaccines, are emerging and threaten the government’s path out of lockdown. In response, Johnson has announced tougher border measures with a decade in jail as punishment for breaking new quarantine rules for travelers arriving in Britain from virus hot spots.