UK's coronavirus-related deaths top 150,000

LONDON -- Britain reported a further 313 coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain to 150,057, according to official figures released Saturday.

The country also reported another 146,390 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 14,333,794.

Professor Andrew Hayward, a British government advisory scientist, told the BBC that Britain recording more than 150,000 COVID deaths was "absolutely tragic."

"I think we could have done better. I think some of the deaths are even more tragic for the fact that many of them were avoidable if we had acted earlier in the first and second wave," said Hayward, a University College London academic.

Britain is the seventh country to pass 150,000 reported deaths, after the United States, Brazil, India, Russia, Mexico and Peru, according to the BBC.

A government spokesman said: "Every death from this virus is a tragedy and our sympathies are with everyone who has lost loved ones."

The latest figures came as scientists have said COVID booster jabs provide 90 percent protection against hospitalization in the over-65s for at least three months.

It means that there is "no immediate need" for a fourth jab to be administered to vulnerable people, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

More than 90 percent of people aged 12 and over in Britain have had their first dose of vaccine and more than 82 percent have received both doses, according to the latest figures. More than 61 percent have received booster jabs, or the third dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

To bring life back to normal, countries such as Britain, China, Germany, Russia and the United States have been racing against time to roll out coronavirus vaccines.