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* UK begins using Moderna's shot
* UK daily rollout slows to lowest level this year
* PM Johnson: Get a shot
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By Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton
LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - Britain begins using Moderna's
COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday in Wales just as its rollout of
other shots has fallen to its lowest level this year due to a
supply crunch caused by manufacturing problems at AstraZeneca.
Britain has surged ahead of the rest of Europe in the race
to vaccinate its population, with almost half of its citizens
receiving a first dose, but supply issues from its main
Oxford-AstraZeneca shot have slowed progress in recent
days.
Britain distributed almost 96,000 shots on Sunday and just
over 105,000 on Monday, the lowest figures since the government
started publishing daily numbers in January.
British ministers had warned the rollout would slow in April
due to AstraZeneca's manufacturing issues, including at a site
in India.
"The Moderna vaccine rollout begins today, starting with
Carmarthen in Wales," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said. "We
have ordered 17 million doses that will be going into arms
across the UK in the coming weeks.
"Please get your jab as soon as you are contacted."
Moderna, whose shots are already being used in the United
States and other parts of Europe, will become the third vaccine
to be used in Britain after the AstraZeneca shot and one from
Pfizer-BioNTech .
It uses the same mRNA technology as Pfizer's shot but can be
stored at normal fridge temperatures unlike its rival U.S.
vaccine, which must be stored and shipped at ultra-cool
temperatures.
Junior business minister Paul Scully told Sky News the
Moderna shot would reach 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."
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. In recent weeks, cases, hospitalisations and
deaths have all fallen.
Israel is the world leader in vaccinating its population
against COVID-19, 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
William Schomberg and Mark Potter)
