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UK may start vaccinating people over 40 in March

01 March 2021 19:37 (UTC +04:00)

The UK government will start vaccinating citizens over 40 against COVID-19 this month, as the vaccination campaign is weeks ahead of schedule, APA reports citing Telegraph.

According to the media outlet, the National Health Service (NHS) is sending the last letters of invitation to vaccinate citizens over 60 years of age. Thus, it is expected that by the end of the week, all citizens from the seven major priority groups will have been invited to get inoculated.

Given that about 2.5 million people receive the first coronavirus vaccine shot every week, the vaccination of the subsequent group – those over 50 – could begin on March 15, nearly one month ahead of the initial vaccination plan, the publication said. The vaccination campaign for Britons over 50 is reportedly expected to take about two weeks if there are no disruptions in the deliveries of COVID-19 vaccines.

This means that people over 40 will be able to receive their first coronavirus vaccine shot already in March, according to the newspaper.

The UK kicked off the nationwide vaccination campaign on December 8. Over 20 million UK nationals have already received a vaccine. Those first in line to receive the shot were senior citizens aged 70 and over, health and care workers and people with extreme underlying conditions.