As the COVID-19 pandemic hit every corner of the world, scientists and experts are racing against the time to make a coronavirus vaccine. Luckily, as of this writing, the UK has taken an early start by injecting the Pfizer/BioNTech jab to 137,897 Brits within this week.
As reported earlier by the BBC, Nadhim Zahawi, the UK's current member of the parliament and the one in charge of the rollout, announced the number on Twitter. According to him, England has 108,000 people vaccinated, Wales' number stands at 7,897, Northern Ireland is 4,000, while Scotland starts at 18,000
"Transparency is vital as we deliver vaccines across the UK. For now, these figures are provisional. From next week, we will begin to publish weekly figures on the number of vaccines administered," says the PM.
Front line health workers and people over-80 are among the first-class priority recipients of the vaccine, followed by people in their 70s and those with chronic health concerns.
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Vaccine Prediction
However, there is still no exact date when the COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out for everyone. Although the first doses are already out and shipped by FedEx and UPS to hospitals across the US, experts believe we still have a long way to the 100% usual due to the spiking numbers of cases.
Dr. Timothy Brewer from the University of California, Los Angeles, told Healthline that there is no way we could transition back to our pre-normal lives due to such high demand for the vaccine.
"Given how long it will take to address those most in need, we will see no noticeable change for the near future, just because there isn't enough vaccine to have any meaningful impact immediately," Dr. Brewer said.
Even if the vaccine has been undergoing, the mask-wearing rule is still mandatory, as we yet don't know if getting a jab could make us immune or stop the spread of the symptoms.
Scottish COVID App Error
In other news, an error on the 'Protect Scotland' app for COVID-19 has made hundreds of people self-isolate.
As the BBC reported, the app has notified over 20,000 people of the need to self-isolate overnight last Monday (12/14). The error came due to the app's overly sensitive configuration, although it has now been fixed.
Protect Scotland has amassed over 1,7 million downloads, and the number could go higher due to the spiking cases of COVID-19. The app uses Bluetooth technology to create an automatically-computerized tracing system, allowing Scottish people to self-diagnose before admitting themselves to the nearest doctors.
When a person gets a positive test of COVID-19, they will be alerted via text, phone, and email. If willing, the patient could use the app's upload function to alert people who may contact them anonymously.
