UK PM Boris Johnson said that the new virus variant may have higher mortality. "The variant that was first identified in London and the South East may be associated with a higher degree of mortality," Johnson said. He added that all current evidence showed that the two vaccines currently used in the UK, the Pfizer/BioNTech and the Oxford/AstroZeneca, remained effective against both the original form of coronavirus and the new UK variant. According to the government's chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, the vaccines, however, may be less effective against other variants that have emerged in South Africa and Brazil. Boris further informed that 5.4 million people across the UK have been given the first dose.
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