LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th March, 2021) UK Housing Minister Robert Jenrick claimed on Thursday that the government's roadmap out of the COVID-19 lockdown will not be affected by the potential temporary shortage in vaccine supply, and assured that the gradual easing of restrictions remains on track.
"There's no reason to believe that the roadmap is affected by this temporary shortage in supply," Jenrick told Sky news broadcaster, adding that "there's no concern that we are off course" on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plans to return the UK back to normal by June 21.
The National Health Service warned on Wednesday of an incoming "significant reduction" of vaccine supplies that could leave people under the age of 50 waiting an extra month for their first jab.
Media reports suggest that the slowdown in supplies to the UK is due to a delay in getting five million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine from the Serum Institute in India, but vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said it is more than just an issue related to deliveries from the South Asian country.
"It's not shortage of supply from India or elsewhere. AstraZeneca is a global production and supply chains in vaccines are global," Zahawi told the BBC.
The UK has secured 100 million doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, plus another 30 million doses from Pfizer/BioNTech and expects to receive the first batch of the 17 million doses ordered from Moderna by spring.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock also attempted to played down the impact of the potential vaccine shortage on the immunization campaign and the easing of the COVID-19 lockdown when leading the COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday evening.
"Vaccine supply is always lumpy. These supply schedules have moved up and down throughout this whole rollout - it's absolutely par for the course," he said, stressing that the government's plan to offer the whole UK adult population the opportunity to get a vaccine by the end of July has not changed.
As of Wednesday, more than 25 million people in the UK had received at least one dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccines, as coronavirus cases and deaths have dropped to their lowest levels since September.
