UK leader to use 'every second' to vaccinate the vulnerable
LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged that his government would use “every available second” to shield the elderly and the vulnerable from the virus rampaging across Britain as he told Parliament on Wednesday why the country needed to return to a COVID-19 lockdown.
Lawmakers, who were recalled from their Christmas recess early to discuss the measures, are expected to approve the new rules because there is a wide consensus on the need for tougher restrictions to control soaring new infections.
“There’s a fundamental difference between the regulations before the House today and the position we faced at any previous stage, because we now have the vaccines that are our means of escape,'' Johnson said. “And we will use every available second of the lockdown to place this invisible shield around the elderly and the vulnerable.”
The U.K. is in a maelstrom of rising COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths. Britain reported more than 60,000 new daily coronavirus cases for the first time on Tuesday. More than 391,000 people have tested positive in the past seven days, up 44% from the previous week.
Rising infections are also putting an unprecedented strain on the nation’s healthcare system. Hospitals in England are currently treating over 26,000 coronavirus patients, 40% more than during the first peak of the pandemic last April.
When he announced the stay-at-home order on Monday, Johnson said it wouldn’t lifted before mid-February. By that time, the government hopes to have given one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to about 13 million people who are most at risk, potentially allowing some relaxation of the restrictions.
“After the marathon of last year, we are indeed now in a sprint, a race to vaccinate the vulnerable faster than the virus can reach them, and every needle in every...
