UK vaccine roll-out to be slower than hoped, deliveries to pick up from May

Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer (C) speaks with nurses and midwives inside a pop-up dome during a visit to the Whittington hospital in London

* UK says global lumpy supply chain causing issues * UK vaccine roll-out will be slower than hoped * UK says vaccine deliveries to rise from May * UK scolds EU over vaccine ban threat Britain said on Thursday that global supply bumps meant its vaccine roll-out would be slower than hoped in coming weeks but it expected deliveries to increase again in May, June and July. British health officials warned on Wednesday that the world's fastest big economy roll-out of the vaccine would face a significant reduction in supplies from March 29. Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc said their delivery schedules had not been impacted, and Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick refused to be drawn on whether the issue was due to a problem with supply from India.