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* Tally puts Britain ahead of major economies
* UK administered a record 660,276 shots on Friday
* Boris Johnson got AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday
* 26.9 mln given first dose out of 52.7 mln adult population
(Adds Health Minister comments, background)
By Sarah Young
LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Britain has hit a COVID-19
vaccination milestone with more than half of all adults having
had at least one injection, health secretary Matt Hancock said
on Saturday, making it the world's first major economy to
achieve that level of innoculation.
Britain's vaccine roll-out, which has raced ahead of those
in the European Union and the United States, means the country
is on track to ease lockdown measures and re-open the economy in
line with its plan, Hancock said.
"The vaccination programme is our route out of the
pandemic," Hancock told Sky News on Saturday. Official data
showed 26.9 million had received a first dose of vaccine, up
from 26.3 million the previous day.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who had AstraZeneca's
vaccine on Friday, tweeted "Let's keep going" after the
announcement that half of all adults had had a first shot.
Yet worries were also growing about a new wave of infections
in continental Europe as cases rise in countries including
Germany and France. A scientist who advises the government
warned on Saturday that holidays abroad were "extremely
unlikely" for most Britons this summer due to the risk of
importing new variants of COVID-19.
Asked if infection rates elsewhere in Europe concerned him,
Hancock said Britain had to stay vigilant but saw no threat to
plans to gradually re-open shops, pubs and restaurants from
April 12. "There is no sign that we won't be able to make
progress as set out in the roadmap," Hancock said.
Britain's vaccination roll-out, using the AstraZeneca and
Pfizer jabs, is one of the fastest in the world. Israel
tops the world in terms of the proportion of its population it
has vaccinated, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Chile,
then the UK.
By comparison, 23% of the U.S. population has received at
least one dose of a vaccine, and less than a 10th of the EU
population has been vaccinated.
ON TRACK FOR TARGETS
Britain's government has said it is aiming to give at least
one shot to everyone aged over 50 by mid-April and to every
adult by the end of July, targets which Hancock said would be
met.
Famous London landmarks like Westminister Abbey and the
Science Museum as well as local mosques and football stadiums
have hosted vaccine clinics.
The state-run health service also said that 2.1 million
people, or 4% of the population, have had a second dose and
almost 95% of people aged over 60 have been vaccinated.
The EU meanwhile is trying to get its vaccine programme back
on track after at least 13 countries temporarily suspended the
use of the AstraZeneca shot last week over safety concerns.
The European Medicines Agency has since said the benefits of
protecting people outweighed the possible risks from the
vaccine, but the damage to the AstraZeneca jab's reputation
could further slow the pace of the roll-out.
The struggle to secure vaccine supplies has left Britain and
the EU at loggerheads over vaccine exports. The EU threatened to
ban shipments to Britain on Wednesday.
Come April, Britain has warned its roll-out will slow due to
a supply crunch caused by a delayed shipment from India and the
need to retest one batch of vaccines.
(Reporting by Sarah Young
Editing by Andrew Heavens and David Holmes)
