British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday hailed passing a "significant milestone" in the battle against coronavirus as all adults over 50 in the United Kingdom have received a COVID-19 jab in the United Kingdom, three days before the initial target of April 15, according to a government statement. Nearly 40 million vaccines have now been given in total, with adults under 50 expected to begin to be invited in the coming days, the government said in the statement. "We have now passed another hugely significant milestone in our vaccine program by offering jabs to everyone in the nine highest risk groups," the UK premier said in the statement. The milestone was reached as the total number of people in the UK to get a first dose of the vaccine rose to 32,190,576, with the figure for second doses at 7,656,205. "I want to thank everyone involved in the vaccine rollout which has already saved many thousands of lives," Johnson added. "We will now move forward with completing essential second doses and making progress toward our target of offering all adults a vaccine by the end of July." With priority cohorts 1-9 milestone reached, the Joint Committee on Vaccine and Immunization (JCVI) is expected to publish its final advice on how the government should vaccinate those aged under 50. This advice will pave the way for the next phase of the vaccination program, which is expected to begin this week. NHS organizations in the four nations, in collaboration with devolved administrations, will decide how to operationalize the JCVI advice. It is thought that people in England in their late 40s will be the first to be invited to book their jabs. Over 7 million second doses have now been given — with a record 475,230 given on Saturday — and we remain on track to offer the first vaccine to all adults by July 31. — Agencies
