The strong start of the UK’s inoculation programme doesn’t cancel out past failures. But it is a huge relief
We can do this. Not a mantra, or a hope, but a reality and a huge relief. With 6% of the population inoculated so far, and an ambitious target of 13 million people by mid-February, Britain’s vaccination programme is working. In hospitals, pharmacies, GP practices and vaccination centres, using a nationwide queueing system that puts the eldest and most vulnerable at the front, people are being protected against the virus.
More than half of the over-80s have had at least one dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, as have healthcare workers and care home staff and residents. People deemed clinically extremely vulnerable and the over-70s are next. The UK has vaccinated almost 4.1 million people, with around 62 million to go, and is ahead of every country except Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
