With some of the highest infection and death rates in the world, the UK has been widely criticized for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the vaccine roll-out has been a different story.

Ten weeks since approving the first vaccine, the UK government hit its ambitious target of giving a single dose to 15 million of the most "at-risk" people.

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Just days after the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approved in early December, jabs were going in arms. A month after that, mass-vaccination centers opened across the UK.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the repurposed Ashton Gate stadium in Bristol to see the start of the roll-out. Open 12 hours a day, seven days a week, thousands have now come through those doors.

"It's really that light at the end of the tunnel," said Dave Storr, head of safety and security at the stadium. 

"We all want to get out of this and we want to get out of it as soon as possible. Everybody needs to play a part and we are playing a good part here. That's what it's all about, coming together and making sure that the NHS can get on and do their job."

Early in the pandemic, the UK decided to spend vast sums on untested vaccines. The country moved quickly, invested heavily and placed huge pre-orders with multiple companies, hoping at least one would show promise.

The Pfizer-BioNTech and the Oxford University-AstraZeneca jabs have been used so far. The Moderna shot will be next when supplies arrive in the spring. Many more could follow.

With hospitals and key large sites getting things started, the decision was then made to rapidly expand the amount of vaccination centers. There are now more than 1,500 in England.

The Temple Fortune Health Centre in North London has converted its car park to create the space needed.

"It was offered as a pilot, so I thought we would do one cycle of vaccinations, dip our toe in, and then hand it over to mass-vaccination sites," said Leora Harverd a doctor at of the Temple Fortune surgery.

"But essentially we ended up signing a nine-month contract, whereby we're delivering the vaccine week in, week out. And when the delivery arrived at six o'clock in the morning, my nurse called me absolutely beside herself that this van had arrived with liquid nitrogen coming out of it.

"I literally jumped out of bed and rushed over here, because to see those Pfizer vials arrive was a moment in history."

The UK government has pledged to keep up the pace of vaccinations, to allow the national lockdown to be lifted. And limiting the arrival of new variants of the virus is an ongoing priority.

_{Cover image: AP Photo / Peter Morrison}