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Coronavirus

11th Mar 2021

Over 30s to be vaccinated by April, vaccines minister announces

Danny Jones

The news comes as millions of doses of Covid vaccines arrive in the UK

Now, we’re not getting to far ahead of ourselves just yet, but the vaccine rollout scheme is set to take a huge leap forward. The scramble for Covid-19 vaccines around Europe is constant but, fortunately for us Brits, we’ve just got our hands on a shed load.

According to Nadhim Zahawi, COVID Vaccine Deployment, the UK is set to see a “rapid increase” in vaccinations throughout the second half of March, thanks to new shipments of shots from various suppliers.

Up until now, the issue has been making sure to manage “that each region gets enough doses to do the cohort target”, says Zahawi, but that this sudden influx of new doses will allow more locations to engage in vaccinations and more people receiving their first jab.

The Minister went on to say that the country can expect “tens of millions” to arrive over the next few weeks and that each of the four nations within the United Kingdom will receive a share in proportion to their respective populations.

Approximately 23 million people have been given their first vaccine dose so far, with 1.2 million having received their second. With this ramp-up in operations, over-50s and high-risk cases could be offered their shot by the end of March.

Obviously, these are all projections for now but if everything goes to plan, over-30s could be invited as early as April. No matter how swift it happens, this is fantastic news for all age groups.

The end may just be in sight.