Half of UK adults jabbed by end of this week
» 50% of adults will be vaccinated by weekend Europe suspends Oxford vac over ‘baffling’ clot fears
HALF of all UK adults should have received a Covid-19 jab by the end of this week as vaccination supply ramps up.
While EU nations suspended the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab amid a “baffling” blood clot scare, 257,000 people in the UK got their first vaccine yesterday.
It put the total at 24.5 million, pushing Britain closer to the 26.5 million half-way point.
The EU is lagging well behind as German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch health ministries yesterday paused use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab as a “precaution” as reports of blood clots in Norway were probed.
AstraZeneca said 17 million people in the EU and UK had received the jab, with fewer than 40 cases of blood clots reported as of last week. The UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said there was “no demonstrable difference” in the blood clot risk among the 11 million Brits to have had a first dose. Boris Johnson said the UK’s medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, saw “no reason to discontinue” the jab. Asked if it was safe, he said: “Yes. We have one of the toughest, most experienced regulators in the world. “They see no reason at all to discontinue the vaccination programme... for either of the vaccines that we’re currently using. We continue to be very confident about the programme and it’s great to see it being rolled out at such speed.”
The rollout had slowed, but is set to speed up again as supplies increase again this week.
The World Health Organisation and European Medicines Agency both said there was no evidence the Oxford jab caused the blood clots. The EMA is carrying out a review, and will announce its recommendation on the vaccine this afternoon.
Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Bulgaria, Iceland, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Thailand have suspended the jab. Other countries, including Austria, have suspended certain batches.
President Emmanuel Macron yesterday said French authorities had decided to suspend the Oxford vaccines until at least the EMA recommendation this afternoon.
Prof Anthony Harnden, JCVI deputy chairman,
said if there were concerns about the jab, the UK public would be informed “straight away”.
He said: “There are 3,000 blood clots a month in the general population on average. As we’re immunising so many people, we are bound to see blood clots at the same time.
“Covid causes blood clots. So, the risks of not having the Covid vaccination far outweigh the risks from the vaccinations.”
Dr Michael Head, global health expert at the University of Southampton, said: “The decisions by France, Germany and other countries look baffling. The MHRA, WHO and also the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis have recommended continuing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine rollout.”
MHRA vaccine safety chief Dr Phil Bryan said: “Given the large number of doses administered, and frequency at which blood clots occur naturally, the evidence available does not suggest the vaccine is the cause.”
On Saturday, 512,108 people in the UK got their first dose of a vaccine, the second highest daily total.
The NHS could be administering between four and five million doses a week by the end of March, a leaked letter from NHS leaders said.
It would put the UK well ahead of schedule to get every adult vaccinated by the end of July.
A further 64 Covid-19 deaths were reported yesterday, bringing the
UK total to 125,580. It is the lowest Monday total since October 12. There were 5,089 new cases.
It is feared the blood clots scare will increase vaccine hesitancy. NHS documents suggest hospitals can consider redeploying staff who refuse to get the jab. The success of the UK vaccine rollout has shifted older voters towards the Tories, election expert Lord Hayward said last night. He said in May’s elections the Tories would benefit from a vaccines bounce from over-54s who had been vaccinated. He said the Tories had opened up a “6% or 7% lead” since the rollout began in December.
We’re immunising so many people that we are bound to see blood clots at the same time
PROF ANTHONY HARNDEN DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE JCVI