English health service in serious situation but all adults can be vaccinated this year, chief says

Every adult in England will be offered a vaccine in 2021, the chief executive of England's National Health Service (NHS) said on Monday, warning that a resurgence in COVID-19 posed a serious threat to hospitals and to the country in the meantime.

"We have more than 30,000 severely ill coronavirus patients in hospitals across England... So this is a very serious moment for the country and for the National Health Service," Simon Stevens told lawmakers, adding that over 2.5 million doses of vaccine had been given across the UK so far.

Asked about a target of vaccinating all people who are over 18 by the end of 2021, Stevens said: "It is absolutely the goal that we have and we think it is a feasible goal."