UK Announces Completion of First COVID-19 Vaccine Dose for Over 50s... "A Major Milestone"

"Over 32 Million First Dose Recipients in the UK"
Goal to Complete First Dose for All Adults by July

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The UK government announced that the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has been completed for the entire adult population aged 50 and over. With this, the UK's first-dose vaccination rate has surpassed 58% among adults. The UK government plans to provide vaccines to all adults by July.

According to foreign media including the BBC on the 12th (local time), UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated in a press release, "The first dose of the vaccine has been completed for all adults aged 50 and over in the UK," emphasizing that "a very significant milestone has been reached." He added, "All nine high-risk groups have been vaccinated, which means that more than 32 million people in the UK have received the preventive vaccination provided to fight against COVID-19."

He expressed gratitude to everyone involved in distributing the vaccine, which has already saved many lives, saying, "We will make progress toward our goal of completing the essential second dose and providing vaccines to all adults by the end of July." As a result, the vaccination rate among adults in the UK reached 58.5%. UK health authorities reported that 32.19 million people have completed the first dose, and 7.65 million have received the second dose.

UK health authorities had previously expected that the first dose for adults aged 50 and over would be completed around the 15th, but it was completed slightly ahead of schedule. UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock also said, "I am pleased that the team has done an amazing job achieving the target early." Public Health England (PHE) celebrated that the vaccination of nine high-risk groups, including those aged 50 and over, has saved more than 10,000 lives.

The UK government plans to start Moderna vaccine administration for those under 50 by July. Until now, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been mainly administered, but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recently raised concerns about rare blood clot side effects, leading to a regulation change to provide other vaccines to those under 30. Currently, the Moderna vaccine was distributed to the Wales region last week, and the UK government announced that about 50,000 doses are scheduled to be administered this month.