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LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - Britain begins rolling out
Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday in Wales and expects to
be using it in the rest of the United Kingdom in the coming days
in a boost to the country's health system after supplies of
shots started to slow.
Moderna will become the third vaccine to be used in Britain
after the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer jabs and
comes as the supply of shots from Astra starts to slow due to
manufacturing issues including at a site in India.
"I’m delighted we can start the UK rollout of the Moderna
vaccine in west Wales today," Hancock said. "Today we start with
the third approved vaccine. Wherever you live, when you get the
call, get the jab."
Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people to get their shots
as soon as they were invited.
The United Kingdom has vaccinated 31.6 million people with a
first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine - and administered 5.5 million
second doses. It will soon have vaccinated half of its total
population.
Junior business minister Paul Scully told Sky News the
Moderna shot, which uses the same mRNA technology as Pfizer but
is easier to transport, will be coming to the rest of the United
Kingdom in the coming days.
"You've heard the vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi talking
about the third week of April. We're already just about to start
the second week of April so that's not too long to wait."
Israel is the world leader in vaccinating its population
against COVID, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Chile, the
United Kingdom, the United States, Bahrain, Serbia and Hungary,
according to Our World in Data.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Costas Pitas; Editing by
Kate Holton and William Schomberg)
