LONDON, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Some doctors' practices in England
will be able to offer the COVID-19 vaccine developed by
AstraZeneca and Oxford University from Thursday, the National
Health Service (NHS) said, targeting the vaccination of the most
vulnerable within six weeks.
More than 1.3 million people in the United Kingdom have
received one shot of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer's
COVID-19 vaccine.
"We are aiming to offer vaccinations to the majority of care
home residents by the end of January and all 13 million people
in the top four priority cohorts by mid-February," health
minister Matt Hancock said.
The government must ramp up shots to around 2 million a week
to hit its target. The top priority groups include care home
residents, the elderly, the clinically vulnerable, and frontline
health and social-care workers.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that if the vaccine
rollout goes to plan, new lockdown measures introduced this week
could start to be eased in February.
AstraZeneca's vaccine will be rolled out in some General
Practice (GP) services, the health service said, after it was
first administered in hospitals on Monday.
Another 180 GP-led vaccine services are coming online this
week, with up to 100 more hospital sites. That is on top of 700
sites that were already distributing the Pfizer vaccine after
its approval last month.
AstraZeneca's vaccine does not have the ultra-low
temperature requirements that Pfizer's does, making it easier to
deploy.
Initial boxes of the Pfizer vaccine contained nearly 1,000
doses, but the NHS said that smaller boxes of Pfizer's vaccine
had also been approved for use that could be used in settings
like care homes without wasting doses.
Britain is prioritising giving as many people as possible a
first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine to offer some protection,
delaying second doses for up to 12 weeks. While some doctors
have queried the move, on Tuesday England's Chief Medical
Officer said that the balance of risk supported it.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout
Editing by Mark Heinrich)