London: Britain has now given around 2 million people a COVID-19 vaccination, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Sunday ahead of a ramp-up in the roll-out of the shots on Monday. Over the last week we ve vaccinated more people than in the entirety of December, so we re accelerating the roll-out, he told BBC TV.
Asked how many people had been vaccinated, Hancock said: It s around the 2 million mark, but we re going to publish the exact figures tomorrow and then henceforth on a daily basis. Britain is aiming to vaccinate around 14 million people by the middle of February, comprising the over-70s, the clinically vulnerable - the elderly or with pre-existing conditions - and health and social-care workers.
7 Jan 2021, 13:07
Updated: 7 Jan 2021, 13:56
PEOPLE are being warned not to drink alcohol for two days before and two weeks after having the Covid jab.
This period of sobriety is to ensure the immune system is at its best to respond to the vaccine, experts say.
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Experts are urging people not to drink alcohol before or after having the Covid vaccineCredit: Getty Images - Getty
While there s little data on the exact effect of alcohol on the body s response to the Covid vaccine, there is some evidence to suggest that booze can reduce the ability to build immunity in response.
It s especially the case for regular heavy drinkers, according to Drinkaware, the independent medical advisory panel for alcohol education charity.
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FILE - In this Tuesday Dec. 8, 2020 file photo, 90 year old Margaret Keenan, the first patient in the UK to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, administered by nurse May Parsons at University Hospital, Coventry, England. Britain races to vaccinate more than 15 million people by mid-February, and in an effort to ensure vaccines get to the right places at the right times, along with the syringes, alcohol swabs and protective equipment needed to administer them, the government has called in the army. (Jacob King/Pool via AP, File) Credit: The Associated Press
LONDON (AP) British Health Secretary Matt Hancock turned up at a doctor’s office in London this week to highlight the start of coronavirus vaccinations by local general practitioners.