Royal Oak Tribune

Britain’s Johnson pledges U.K. vaccine program will run 24-7

- By Danica Kirka

LONDON » Britain’s coronaviru­s vaccine program will operate around the clock seven days a week “as soon as we can,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged Wednesday as the U.K. accelerate­s efforts to inoculate millions of its most vulnerable people against coronaviru­s.

Johnson said “at the moment, the limit is on supply” of the vaccines rather than on the ability of the country’s health service to deliver jabs quickly. The push to inoculate millions quickly comes as a more contagious variant of COVID-19 is sweeping across Britain and driving hospitals to their breaking points.

His comments came as the government said 1,564 more people had died within 28 days of testing positive, the highest figure reported in Britain on a single day since the pandemic began. Britain already had Europe’s highest COVID-19 death toll.

The U.K. is under an indefinite national lockdown to curb the spread of the new variant, with nonessenti­al shops, gyms and hairdresse­rs closed, most people working from home and schools largely offering remote learning. But some are calling for even tougher measures.

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