Covid: UK at 'perilous moment' in pandemic, says PM
Covid: UK at 'perilous moment' in pandemic, says PM
Published
6 minutes ago
Related Topics
media captionBoris Johnson says two million people and "may be a bit more" have received one of the two licensed vaccines so far
The UK is facing a "perilous moment" in the pandemic and must guard against complacency, the PM has said, as he announced a total of 2.4 million vaccinations have been given so far.
Visiting a vaccination centre in Bristol, Boris Johnson said: "We have a really tough fight on our hands."
It comes as seven mass jab centres have opened in England.
And England's chief medical officer has warned the next few weeks
will be "the worst" of the pandemic for the NHS.
Prof Chris Whitty has urged people to minimise unnecessary social contacts.
Meanwhile, the government has set out its
plans to immunise tens of millions of people by spring.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock will lead a news conference on the vaccine delivery plan later.
Speaking in Bristol, Mr Johnson also announced that around 2 million people have received a Covid vaccine across the UK, which means around 400,000 people have had two doses.
He said "roughly" 40% of over-80s have been vaccinated, and 23% of elderly residents in care homes.
'Race against time'
Under the vaccine delivery plan, the government has pledged to carry at least two million vaccinations in England per week by the end of January.
The plan also reiterates the government's aim of offering vaccinations to around 15 million people in the UK - the over-70s, older care home residents and staff, frontline healthcare workers and the clinically extremely vulnerable - by mid-February.
But the prime minister warned the vaccination programme was in a "race against time" because of the pressure the NHS was under.
And he said it was "a very perilous moment because everyone can sense the vaccine is coming in - my worry is that will breed false complacency".
Asked whether the government would introduce stricter lockdown rules, Mr Johnson said ministers would keep restrictions "under constant review", adding: "Where we have to tighten the rules we will."
There was an air of optimism at Epsom racecourse - one of England's new mass vaccination centres - this morning as the first Covid vaccinations were administered.
A steady stream of Surrey residents, mostly in their 80s, filed in from a large outdoor car park.
Given that these are among the most at risk from Covid, it is vital that vaccination centres maintain rigorous social distancing.
From what I observed, it looked like it had been well thought out.
People were asked to stay in their cars until their slot was ready, and were then shepherded through to one of six immunisation pods in a huge interior open space.
The centre, one of seven in England, plans to carry out around 500 vaccinations today, rising to 1,000 a day soon.
Like the other hubs in England it will be open 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
But there is a mountain to climb if the goal is to be reached of offering up to 15 million people a first dose of Covid vaccine by mid February.
The prime minister said 2.4 million vaccines had been administered. That means there are five weeks in which to carry out up to 12.5 million more.
That's 2.5 million a week if the top four priority groups are to be all offered immunisation.
Ministers are aiming to offer jabs at more than 2,700 vaccination sites across the UK, including 206 hospital sites, 50 vaccination centres and around 1,200 local vaccination sites.
As seven mass vaccination centres opened across England on Monday, NHS England said hundreds more GP-led and hospital services would also open later this week.
But with all centres, people will need to wait until they receive an invitation.
Two vaccines - Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca - are currently being administered in the UK.
On Friday, a third coronavirus vaccine - made by US company Moderna -
was approved for use, although supplies are not expected to arrive until spring.
Meanwhile, the Test and Trace scheme in England has revised one of its definitions of a "close contact" - the people who need to be reached if they have been near to someone who has tested positive for Covid.
The definition now refers to a close contact as anyone who has been within two metres of someone for more than 15 minutes, whether in a single period or cumulatively over the course of one day.
Previously the definition was just a single period of at least 15 minutes.
England is currently under a national lockdown, meaning people must stay at home and can go out only for limited reasons such as food shopping, exercise, or work if they cannot do so from home.
Similar lockdown measures are in place across much of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.