UK reports new daily vaccine record with 660,276 shots

Britain on Friday (March 19) said it had given 660,276 doses of Covid-19 vaccine in a single day, a new daily record, in a boost to the rollout before the country prepares for a drop-off in the “bumper” supplies of shots.

The single day record for first and second doses comes as Britain approaches the milestone of giving half their adult population at least one Covid-19 vaccine.

Israel is the leader in vaccinating its population, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Chile and then the United Kingdom - and investors are watching closely to see which economies could recover first.

Britain’s official data showed that 26.264 million people had received a first dose of the vaccine, and 2.011 million people had received a second. It also recorded 101 new deaths of people who had tested positive for Covid-19 within 28 days, and 4,802 new cases of the disease.

Distributed by the NHS, Britain’s vaccine rollout has got off to a blistering start but the government has warned this week of a marked slowdown in April due to a delay of a shipment from India’s Serum Institute and because a batch in the UK needed to be retested.