Moscow: The United Kingdom is going to receive the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine developed by US pharma company Moderna next month, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden told the BBC on Sunday.
Back in January, Moderna became the third COVID-19 vaccine approved in the UK. In mid-March, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said that the vaccine would arrive “in the coming weeks.”
“We expect that in April Moderna will come,” Dowden said.
In another interview, the cabinet minister said that the government guarantees that everyone would get a second dose of a coronavirus vaccine within 12 weeks, as pledged.
“Yes of course, we have been planning that all the way through – it’s one of the most important considerations as we’ve rolled out the vaccine,” he told Sky News, when asked whether the government guarantees that Britons will receive the second shot on time.
Dowden also commented on The Sunday Times’ fresh report about the UK planning to offer 3.7 million COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring Ireland to more safely lift the lockdown in Northern Ireland.
“We clearly don’t currently have a surplus of vaccines. Should we get to the point where we have a surplus of vaccines we’d make decisions on the allocation of that surplus,” he said.
Nearly 30 million Britons have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Of them, 3.2 million have been fully vaccinated.(Sputnik)
UK expects 1st Moderna vaccine deliveries in April – Minister
