Forex Trading For Beginners 2021: Covid-19: UK 'confident' of second vaccine doses within 12 weeks

A man receives a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Winding Wheel Theatre, Chesterfield, Britain

The government is "confident" everyone in the UK will get a second dose of the Covid vaccine within 12 weeks of their first, the culture secretary has said.

Questioned about the concerns over vaccine supply, Oliver Dowden said "we always knew there would be ups and downs" but the timetable was on track.

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr it was "essential" to provide second doses and it would not require mixing vaccines.

Mr Dowden added that the Moderna jab was due to arrive in the UK in April.

So far, more than 29 million UK adults have received a first dose of a Covid vaccine - but vaccine supply issues have continued to make the rollout bumpy.

Earlier this month, the NHS warned of a significant reduction in jabs available in England in April, and there has been a delay to Oxford-AstraZeneca shipments from India.

Amid tensions with the EU over the supply of jabs, France's foreign minister also suggested the UK would struggle to source and supply second doses.

'Slowdown'

But speaking to the BBC on Sunday, Mr Dowden said: "We're on track both with the rollout of the vaccine and the roadmap.

"You will have seen the ups and downs - we were surging ahead a couple of weeks ago, there's been a bit of a slowdown now.

"But that doesn't undermine our confidence that we will be able to deliver for that crucial group, the over-50s, by the middle of April and then for the rest of the adult population by the end of July."

Asked whether there will be enough supply for everyone to get their second dose, Mr Dowden said: "That is absolutely essential and in all our planning throughout this, we have borne in mind that we have to get that second top-up and so we're confident we will be able to deliver it.

"And we are confident that it won't require mixing of vaccines."

His comments on vaccines came after a group of charities called for the UK to share its vaccines with poorer countries.

The UK, which has ordered 400 million vaccine doses and will have many left over, has said it will donate most of its surplus vaccine supply to poorer countries.

But the charities - including Save the Children and the Wellcome Trust - urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to "swiftly clarify" how many doses it would donate to the Covax scheme and to begin doing so. The Covax scheme aims to provide jabs for low and middle-income countries.

Mr Dowden told Sky News that the UK's first priority was delivering vaccines to itself.

"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 a decision on the allocation of that surplus."