UK records another 28,680 Covid cases, 1,239 deaths
Another 28,680 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 3,743,734, according to official figures released.
The country also reported another 1,239 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 103,126, the data released on Thursday showed, Xinhua news agency reported.
The latest data were revealed amid a continuing row between the European Union (EU) and the British-based multinational pharma company AstraZeneca over vaccine supply shortages.
Earlier Thursday, British Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said that there “will be no interruption” to Britain’s vaccine supplies after the EU urged AstraZeneca to divert the UK-made jabs to the regional bloc to fulfil contractual obligations.
“We must make sure that we continue with the effective acceleration of our vaccination program. That relies on the supply schedule that has been agreed to be honoured. That’s the first and most important thing,” Gove said.
“But secondarily I’m sure we all want to do everything possible to make sure that as many people in countries which are our friends and neighbours are vaccinated and I think we best achieve that through dialogue and co-operation and friendship,” he told the BBC.
Jeremy Farrar, a member of the British government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, said it was in Britain’s “national interests” to ensure as many people in the world as possible are vaccinated, adding that vaccine nationalism should be avoided.
“It’s something that we absolutely have to negotiate, we have to avoid, and it doesn’t serve anybody to have these fights over vaccine supply,” he told the BBC.
More than 7.4 million people in Britain have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the latest official figures.
