Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the U.K. is on course to meet its coronavirus target, but warned the surge in cases has left the state-run National Health Service in a “very, very serious situation.”
In an interview with Sky News, Hancock said more than 200,000 people are being vaccinated every day, including one-third of the over-80s regarded as the most vulnerable group to the disease. He said mass vaccination centers are opening to accelerate the rollout.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set a target of delivering about 15 million shots by mid-February as his government races to get ahead of a new variant of the virus that has triggered a surge in cases in recent weeks. The U.K. reported an additional 59,937 cases on Saturday, taking the total above 3 million. It has the worse death toll in western Europe at more than 80,000.
