UK's vaccine roll-out set to reach half the population by March

Government now examining possibility of vaccination passports to help boost pandemic-ravaged economy

Published Thu, Feb 18, 2021 · 05:50 AM

London

DESPITE being hampered by a terrible Covid-19 infection and death rate over the past year, the UK has done fairly well as far as its vaccination programme is concerned.

Almost a quarter of the population, including 15.8 million medical staffers, vulnerable patients and elderly people, have already received their first of two doses of the vaccine.

Based on a daily average of 435,000 jabs, around 32 million people - or about half the population - will have received their first shots by March 24. That would be several weeks ahead of the government's May target.

The second vaccinations are beginning to be applied, and Oxford-AstraZeneca and other …