UK PM: 350 thousand people vaccinated so far

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed on Saturday 350,000 people had so far received the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine in the UK. The UK started a mass immunization programme earlier this month after a COVID-19 vaccine created by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech was given the green light by Britain's medicine regulatory agency.

Johnson gave the update on vaccine figures as he announced a new tier of restrictions for parts of the UK. The Prime Minister said London and large areas in southern England already placed at the highest level of the U.K. government's three-tiered coronavirus alert system will move into a new Tier 4 that requires all non-essential shops, hairdressers and indoor leisure venues to close after the end of business hours Saturday.

He also announced that a planned easing of socializing rules that would have allowed up to three households to meet in “Christmas bubbles” from Dec. 23 to Dec. 27, will be canceled for Tier 4 areas and sharply curtailed in the rest of England. England's Chief medical officer, Chris Whitty, warned the country was in a "really critical and dangerous time" in its fight against the virus and urged people to keep their Christmas gatherings as short as possible.