T
he UK has recorded 231 more Covid-19 deaths with 17,272 new cases of the virus.
This is a rise from last Sunday’s figures of 215 deaths and 12,155 new cases.
The head of the UK’s medicines regulator has said there “should be no doubt” about the safety of the coronavirus vaccine which will be rolled out this week in the largest scale immunisation programme in the UK’s history.
Dr June Raine, chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which approved the Pfizer/BioNTech jab, said there should be “real confidence” in the rigour of their approval.
Vaccinations will be administered at dozens of hospital hubs from Tuesday – with people aged 80 and over, care home workers and NHS workers who are at higher risk the first to receive the jab.
The distribution of the vaccine across the UK is being undertaken by Public Health England and the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland through systems specially adapted from those used for the national immunisation programmes.
