Name: Coronavirus: the race between vaccines and new variants I FT
Uploaded: 2021-05-23T16:08:52.000Z
Duration: 6 min 6 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Britain is not alone in the fight against Covid-19,

but it is an interesting case study for those

On the one hand, one of the most advanced vaccine programmes

On the other, a new variant of coronavirus that's

infecting the population in record numbers.

Hopes now lie with the UK government's pledge

to offer a vaccine to 15m of the most vulnerable Britons

88 per cent of people currently dying from the virus

With them protected it's thought that the rest of the population

should be able to enjoy more freedom without putting

the health services under too much strain.

That moment may come after the February half-term,

But whether the vaccination target will be met

and whether it will be enough to end lockdown

And a lot could happen between now and mid-February that would

If the UK wants to vaccinate 15m people by mid-February it will

have to administer 2.5m doses per week for the next five

At the moment, that figure is closer to 2.1m per week.

And Britain's health secretary has suggested delays

in scaling that up are down to the limited supply of vaccines.

The rate limiting step is the supply of vaccine.

It's true that manufacturing is still getting up to speed.

And there are even shortages of the glass vials

But bringing enough vaccination sites on stream

The government has set up plans for 2,700 vaccination centres,

including hospitals, doctor surgeries, pharmacies, and up

At the same time the NHS has hired 80,000 professionals

But frustrations have mounted about how quickly the programme

is being set up, and policymakers are already

looking at other ways to accelerate uptake.

Right now, Israel is head and shoulders above other countries

when it comes to vaccinations per capita,

easy to reach out to members of the public

And in another attempt to speed things along,

Westminster has extended the gap between first and second doses,

When Pfizer and BioNTech and Oxford AstraZeneca

recommended a three-week gap between first and second doses.

But now a growing number of scientists, including

the UK'S Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation

and researchers at Oxford and AstraZeneca,

are recommending that the gap gets pushed much further

over the next three months be able to essentially double

the number of people who can be vaccinated.

Hospitalisations and deaths from Covid-19

are currently at the highest they've ever been.

With more people receiving the limited protection offered

off Britain's overstretched health service.

And that, in turn, could offer a quicker path

Even though some scientists are confident that extending

the gap between doses won't make the vaccine any less effective,

others aren't sure there's enough evidence about how much

They've also warned that partially boosting

the immune system could create an opportunity for the virus

If that happens, all hopes of a swift exit from the crisis

Thankfully, at the moment, there isn't evidence

Early research suggests that neither this variant,

are likely to be more resistant to the current crop

to emerge this year than last as the virus adapts

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Coronavirus: the race between vaccines and new variants I FT

vulnerable

immune

present

strategy