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With hope high for COVID-19 vaccine, Britain prepares to roll it out

Published:Wednesday | November 25, 2020 | 9:29 AM
In this undated file photo issued by the University of Oxford, a volunteer is administered the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, in Oxford, England. (University of Oxford/John Cairns via AP, File)

LONDON (AP) — With major COVID-19 vaccines showing high levels of protection, British officials are cautiously — and they stress cautiously — optimistic that life may start returning to normal by early April.

Even before regulators have approved a single vaccine, the UK and countries across Europe are moving quickly to organise the distribution and delivery systems needed to inoculate millions of citizens.

“If we can roll it out at a good lick … then with a favourable wind, this is entirely hypothetical, but we should be able to inoculate, I believe on the evidence I’m seeing, the vast majority of the people who need the most protection by Easter,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday after vaccine makers in recent weeks have announced encouraging results.

“That will make a very substantial change to where we are at the moment.”

The UK has recorded more than 55,000 deaths linked to COVID-19, the deadliest outbreak in Europe.

The pandemic has prevented families from meeting, put 750,000 people out of work and devastated businesses that were forced to shut as authorities tried to control the spread.

England’s second national lockdown will end December 2, but many restrictions will remain in place.

The British government has agreed to purchase up to 355 million doses of vaccine from seven different producers, as it prepares to vaccinate as many of the country’s 67 million people as possible.

Governments around the world are making agreements with multiple developers to ensure they lock in the delivery of the products that are ultimately approved by regulators.

The National Health Service is making plans to administer 88.5 million vaccine doses throughout England, according to a planning document dated November 13.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are developing their own plans under the UK’s system of devolved administration.

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