Boris Johnson and his ministers moved to calm nerves over the UK’s vaccine programme on Monday, following concerns that the Oxford university/AstraZeneca coronavirus jab might be less effective with the new South African virus strain.
The UK prime minister said he was “very confident” in the vaccines the UK was rolling out, saying they were “effective in delivering a high degree of protection against serious illness and death, which is the most important thing”.
Almost 13m people have now received a first dose of a Covid-19 jab as the government confirmed that its mid-February target for vaccinating the 15m most vulnerable Britons would be met.
Johnson’s comments came after South Africa stopped using the AstraZeneca jab. The move followed publication of a limited study showing that the vaccine was not as effective in preventing mild and moderate illness associated with the 501.V2 variant of Covid-19, which was first identified in the country.
The Johnson…