UK orders 35M more doses of Pfizer vaccine

By Karim El-Bar

LONDON (AA) - The UK announced that it has ordered 35 million more doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which will be delivered from the second half of next year, according to a government statement on Monday.

The statement said the aim was to ensure that “the country remains ahead of the virus for years to come and for any future booster programmes.”

“The government is preparing for a booster programme this year to ensure those most vulnerable to COVID-19 are protected. The booster programme will be based on the final advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), expected in September,” it added.

British Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “The UK’s phenomenal vaccination programme is providing tens of millions of people with protection from COVID-19, saving 95,200 lives and preventing 82,100 hospitalisations in the over 65s in England alone.

“While we continue to build this wall of defence from COVID-19, it’s also vital we do everything we can to protect the country for the future too – whether that’s from the virus as we know it or new variants.

“I am pleased we’ve reached this agreement with Pfizer for more doses as part of our robust preparations to future-proof our vaccine programme, ensuring we have plans in place to keep the nation safe for years to come.”

The government statement said that the UK will also donate 100 million vaccine doses within the next year and that the donation of the first 9 million doses was announced last month.

It also stressed that Britain was one of the largest donors to COVAX, which helps developing countries access vaccines, having committed to donating £548 million (£750 million) in UK aid to help distribute 1.3 billion doses to 92 developing countries this year.

British government data released on Monday showed that there were a further 31,914 COVID-19 cases across the UK over the past 24 hours. This brings the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to over 6.5 million. There were also a further 40 fatalities, bringing the death toll to 131,680.

Up to and including Aug. 22, over 47.6 million people in the country, 87.7%, have received their first dose of vaccine, and over 41.8 million people, 76.9%, their second dose.