
More than 600,000 in the United Kingdom have received the first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, according to a statement released Thursday by the Department of Health and Social Care.
The latest data shows that 616,933 people in the UK received the first dose between Dec. 8 and Dec. 20.
"In line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), vaccines have been administered to care home residents, those aged 80 and over and health and social care staff through over 500 vaccination sites across the UK. The vaccination programme will continue at pace over Christmas," the statement said.
"The vaccine roll out in care homes in England began on Wednesday 16 December, with hundreds of residents vaccinated across seven care homes... Larger care homes with 50-70 beds will be prioritised at first, with around 2,900 care homes of this size in England," the statement added. "Over the coming weeks and months the rate of vaccination will increase as more doses become available and the programme continues to expand, with more vaccines being delivered direct to care homes."
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, “In just over three weeks, the NHS in every part of the UK has already set up hundreds of vaccination sites to ensure those most in need can receive their jab as quickly as possible. This is just the beginning and we are continually expanding our vaccination programme to help everyone get back to normal in the future.”