U.K. opens vaccination centers as virus strains hospitals
LONDON — The U.K. opened seven mass vaccination centers Monday as it moved into the most perilous moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, with exhausted medical staff reeling under the pressure of packed hospitals and increasing admissions.
England’s chief medical officer, Dr. Chris Whitty, warned people to strictly follow measures to prevent the spread of the virus while they wait their turn for a vaccine shot. The government is trying to vaccinate some 15 million people by Feb. 15 — but Britain’s National Health Service is struggling to treat those who are ill now.
“I think everybody accepts that this is the most dangerous time we’ve really had in terms of numbers into the NHS,” Dr. Whitty told the BBC.
People in the U.K. already face severe coronavirus restrictions, but political leaders are considering tightening the rules further as a new, more transmissible variant of COVID-19 aggravates the health care crisis. Leaders want to vaccinate the country out of the crisis, but with hospitals under siege, they must persuade the public to take prevention methods more seriously.
“We don’t rule out taking further action if it’s needed, but it’s your actions now that can make a difference: Stay at home!” Health Secretary Matt Hancock said during a news conference Monday.
Britain, with over 81,000 dead, has the deadliest virus toll in Europe, and the number of hospital beds filled by COVID-19 patients has risen steadily for more than a month. English hospitals are now treating 55% more COVID-19 cases than during the first peak of the pandemic in April.
“Everybody knows what they need to do, and I think that’s the key thing: minimize the number of contacts,” Dr. Whitty said.
England last week entered a third national lockdown that closed all nonessential shops, schools, colleges and universities for at least six weeks. The lockdown is slightly looser than the one in the spring, with many more workplaces and businesses open, but police across the country have issued fines for breaking rules that require people to stay home except for essential reasons, such as exercise or grocery shopping.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government hopes the restrictions will reduce the strain on the NHS while it ramps up a nationwide mass vaccination program using vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and a second from OxfordAstraZeneca. A third vaccine, this one by Moderna, that has been approved for use won’t arrive until the spring.
Seven large-scale vaccination centers are opening, joining about 1,000 other sites across the country, including ones at hospitals, general practitioners’ clinics and drugstores.
Nearly 2.3 million people in the U.K. have received a COVID-19 vaccine so far. The government’s goal is to vaccinate the most vulnerable by mid-February, targeting people over 70, front-line health care workers, nursing home residents and staff and others who are especially vulnerable.