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* UK first to roll out AstraZeneca
* UK has vaccinated 1 million people
* UK says: Its a triumph of British science
* Oxford/AstraZeneca shot can be stored in fridge
* China and Russia vaccinate their populations
(Recasts headline and lead)
By William James and Guy Faulconbridge
LONDON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Britain begins vaccinating its
population on Monday with the COVID-19 shot developed by Oxford
University and AstraZeneca, touting its position as the
first Western country to roll out an inoculation programme
against the novel coronavirus.
Britain, which is rushing to vaccinate its population faster
than the United States and the rest of Europe in a bid to put
the pandemic behind it, is the first country to roll out the
Oxford/AstraZeneca shot.
It last year rolled out the Pfizer and Germany's
BioNTech vaccine. The first people are expected to be vaccinated
with the Oxford/AstraZeneca shot before 0800 GMT.
It has put more than 1 million COVID-19 vaccines into arms
already - more than the rest of Europe put together, Health
Secretary Matt Hancock said, adding that the roll out of the
Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was a triumph.
"That's a triumph of British science that we've managed to
get where we are," Hancock told Sky. "Right at the start, we saw
that the vaccine was the only way out long term."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has secured 100
million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine which can be
stored at fridge temperatures between two to eight degrees,
making it easier to distribute than the Pfizer shot.
Six hospitals in England will administer the first of around
530,000 doses Britain has ready. The programme will be expanded
to hundreds of other British sites in the coming days, and the
government hopes it will deliver tens of millions of doses
within months.
UK FIRST?
Britain last month became the first country to use a
different vaccine produced by Pfizer and BioNTech,
which has to be stored at very low temperatures.
Other Western countries have taken a longer and more
cautious approach to rolling out vaccines, though Russia and
China have been inoculating their citizens for months with
several different vaccines still undergoing late-stage trials.
China on Dec. 31. approved its first COVID-19 vaccine for
general public use, a shot developed by an affiliate of
state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm. The
company said it is 79% effective against the virus.
Russia said on Nov. 24 its Sputnik V vaccine, developed by
the Gamaleya Institute, was 91.4% effective based on interim
late-stage trial results. It started vaccinations in August and
has inoculated more than 100,000 people so far.
India approved the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on Sunday for
emergency use.
Cases of COVID-19 in Britain have risen sharply in recent
weeks, fuelled by a new and more transmissible variant of the
virus. On Sunday there were nearly 55,000 new cases and in total
more than 75,000 people in the country have died with COVID-19
during the pandemic - the second highest toll in Europe.
While the government has been keen to hail its vaccination
programme as the furthest advanced in the world, it has had to
balance the optimism of that message and plead with the public
to stick to rules to prevent new infections.
Johnson said on Sunday that tougher restrictions were likely
to be introduced, even with millions of citizens already living
under the strictest tier of rules.
Asked whether the government was considering imposing a new
national lockdown, Hancock said: "We don't rule anything out."
The spread of the variant virus has also forced the
government to change its approach to vaccination. Britain is now
prioritising getting a first dose of a vaccine to as many people
as possible over giving second doses. Delaying the distribution
of second shots should help stretch the supply.
The change of strategy has drawn criticism from some British
doctors.
(Writing by William James and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by
Susan Fenton and Kate Holton)
