Gov't Releases First Vaccination Stats: 137k In First Week Of Rollout

The UK's minister in charge of vaccinations Nadhim Zahawi tweets: "A really good start to the vaccination program. It's been 7 days and we have done: England: 108,000, Wales: 7,897, Northern Ireland: 4,000, Scotland: 18,000 ,U.K Total 137,897. That number will increase as we have operationalised hundreds of PCN (primary care networks)."

• Due to the nature of how the vaccinations are recorded by the NHS, it seems that the figures on how many people have been vaccinated will come on a weekly, rather than a daily basis (at least for the time being).
• If this speed of vaccination is maintained, it will take 112.4 weeks (just over two years) to give the entire UK population over the age of 60 (who are deemed to be of the highest risk), not including frontline NHS workers or care home staff, their first jabs (two doses are required for immunity).
• However, as the minister states, the weekly vaccination rate is likely to rise as more care networks are brought online for the rollout of the vaccine, and indeed as more vaccines are approved by the MHRA.
• The only vaccine currently in use, from Pfzier/BioNTech is also likely to experience the slowest rollout, given that it needs to be kept below -70 degrees Celsius, compared to those from Moderna and AstraZeneca/Oxford University that can be kept in normal freezers or fridges.