10 new vaccination centres to open across England tomorrow
The government say they want to have offered every adult in the UK their first Covid-19 vaccine dose by September
Last updated 17th Jan 2021
The foreign secretary says there is a "light at the end of the tunnel" when it comes to the coronavirus rollout and is hoping we will be in a "better place" by early Spring.
Dominic Raab's also hoping to return to the tiered system by March.
Ten further mass vaccination centres will open in England this week.
He was asked about speculation reports that every adult in Britain could be vaccinated by the end of June.
He says September is still their aim;
"If you take the UK compared to other countries around Europe, we've got double the vaccination rate of the next leading country which is Denmark.
"We saw on the latest set of figures that over 300,000 people got their doses, so we have got the capacity, but we're ramping it up all the time."
Across the UK, more people have now received their first dose than have tested positive since the pandemic began.
Catherine Johnstone, from the Royal Voluntary Service, says we've all got a part to play going forwards;
"This is one of those moments that we'll all look back on in five years time where we made history.
"When we do eventually look back at all of this, we'll all want to be proud of our own contributions."
Death rates are still high though, as is pressure on the NHS.
Professor Azra Ghani from Imperial College London says numbers must decrease before anything's eased;
"We have to remember that many of the people in hospital are indeed younger than 50 years of age.
"It's crucial that we protect the entire population from this virus."
The 10 new sites opening from Monday (18th January) are;
· Bournemouth International Centre
· Taunton Racecourse
· Blackburn Cathedral
· Salt Hill Activity Centre, Slough
· Norwich Foodcourt
· The Lodge, Wickford, Essex
· Princess Royal Sports Arena, Lincolnshire
· St Helens Rugby Ground
· Park and ride at Askham Bar, York
· Olympic Office Centre in Wembley, north London