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Johnson says Britain will accelerate COVID vaccination programme

News conference about the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday he would accelerate the provision of second doses of COVID-19 vaccines, adding for now the spread of a coronavirus variant first seen in India would not derail an unlocking of the economy.

"It's more important than ever therefore that people get the additional protection of a second dose," he told a news conference.

"So following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, we will accelerate remaining second doses to the over 50s and those clinically vulnerable right across the country, so those doses come just eight weeks after the first dose," he said.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton, writing by Elizabeth Piper)