UK has inoculated over 10 million of its people with the COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, according to the available official statistics. 

Around 10,021,471 people have received their initial dose of the vaccine while a total of 498,962 have got the follow-up jab, according to the British health ministry. 

British PM Boris Johnson, who set out the mass vaccination drive in the UK with the objective of inoculating at least 15 million of the “most vulnerable” by mid-February, has deeply appreciated the “milestone”.

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He said, “There are many people and groups responsible for the UK’s vaccination programme. And it is thanks to their effort — the most colossal in the history of our National Health Service — that we have today passed the milestone.”

The UK is the worst affected country in Europe in terms of the death toll while recording over 109,335 deaths due to the virus out of which 1,322 were reported on Wednesday along with 19,202 new cases. 

Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer of England said that the available data depicts that the third and latest wave of infections in the UK did appear to peak.

He said, “That doesn’t mean you could never have another peak, but at this point in time provided people continue to follow the guidelines, we’re on a downward slope of cases, of hospitalisations and of deaths.”

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The UK was one of the first countries to start a national vaccination drive after approving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use alongside the AstraZeneca-Oxford while the Moderna jab is expected to flurry the vaccination drive in the first quarter of 2021. 

In light of a successful vaccination drive in the UK, the PM is reviewing the possibility of a third nationwide lockdown with plans to ease restrictions.