LONDON, DPA - More than 12 million people in Britain have been vaccinated against COVID-19, latest figures show.

    The government is aiming to offer a vaccine to all 15 million of the country's most vulnerable by mid-February, including those over 70, health care workers and people with pre-existing conditions.

    It is confident it will reach the target and aims to offer everyone over 50 a jab by May.

    Thanks to early, rapid procurement, Britain is suffering less from vaccine manufacturing bottlenecks than some countries in the European Union.

    The WHO has already called on it to share surplus vaccine doses after vulnerable groups have been vaccinated.

    If all of the vaccines Britain has ordered are approved and supplied, the country would have three times more doses than needed.

    However the head of the British Vaccination Taskforce, Kate Bingham, has told Welt am Sonntag newspaper Brexit is not responsible for the success of the country's roll-out.

    Instead, she attributed this to experience in the industry, good contacts and early willingness to sign contracts.

    Meanwhile, cases of new variants of the virus have dropped in recent weeks, thanks to the lockdown in place in Britain.

    At times, there were more than 70,000 cases per day in December.

    Britain recorded 218 new cases of the virus per 100,000 people during the past seven days.