In the U.K., nearly 140,000 people The coronavirus was vaccinated in the first week of the launch, the government said.

Minister of Vaccines Nadhim Zahawi said that in England there were 108,000 vaccinations, in Scotland 18,000, in Wales 7,897 and in Northern Ireland 4,000, a total of 137,897 over seven days.

Zahawi said in a Twitter post on Wednesday that it was a really good start" to the vaccination program and the numbers will increase as the shot is carried out to family doctors working in the city.

In the U.K. Last week with those over 80, health care workers and care home employees at the front of the line for the vaccines made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, it became the first western country to launch Covid-19 vaccinations.

In the battle against the virus, which has infected more than 1.8 million people and killed more than 64,000 people across Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed it as a 'big move forward.'

The program started in 50 hospital hubs across the country but will be rolled out to family doctors and care homes in the coming weeks. All those vaccinated will need a second shot 21 days after the initial injection.

The U.K. has struck deals for 357 million vaccine doses from seven manufacturers, including the Pfizer-BioNTech collaboration. It plans to combine that shot with one from AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford in trials next year, according to the U.K. Vaccine Taskforce.