The Covid vaccine first dose is close to being administered to all over 80s in several of England’s counties. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said successful vaccination by February 15 is a crucial milestone for the UK to hit before ministers can start reviewing lockdown rules. That would mean another 10 million vaccinations need to be administered over the next four weeks, or 2.5 million a week. But the UK is currently only giving out 2.1million doses in a seven day period, according to the latest Government data.
The UK is currently up to 3.54million Covid cases overall, while the death toll stands at 94,580 since the pandemic began in 2020.
On Thursday, January 21, the country recorded 37,892 new cases and 1,290 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test result.
The new variants in Covid are understood to be behind the exponential rise in cases unfolding in recent months.
As it stands, a total of 4.97million people have now received the first dose of a vaccine, indicating there could be light at the end of the tunnel for Brits sometime soon.
READ MORE: Covid vaccines – another good reason we left the EU, says ROSS CLARK
The areas with highest and lowest vaccination rates
Data from the NHS from December 8 to January 17 reveal some six percent of the population of England has received their vaccine so far.
The analysis shows that during this time period, 1,869,308 people under 80 had received the jab – which may include care home or NHS staff. While 1,684,673 people aged 80 or older have received the vaccine.
The Midlands currently has the highest number of people who have received their first dose of the vaccine, with 691,549 people or 6.82 percent of the population.
In second place is the North East and Yorkshire, which has administered a total of 618,761 vaccines, equating to 7.85 percent of the region’s population.
The North West and South East are next, with 487,397 and 587,282 vaccines respectively, or 6.91 percent and 6.8 percent of the people residing there.
DON’T MISS
When will teachers get the Covid vaccine? [EXPLAINED]
Vaccine clinic postcode finder: Find a Covid vaccine clinic near me [REPORT]
Where is the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine made? [INSIGHT]
The South West has administered jabs to 415,087 Brits – 7.85 percent of people – while the East of England’s rate stands at 6.46 percent, or a total of 377,552 injections.
London has the lowest rate of vaccine immunisation with only 376,353 eligible people having received their vaccine – a small fraction of the capital’s population at 4.6 percent.
This is despite London being in the grips of the deadly second wave, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan calling an emergency incident last weeks as hospitals felt the strain of the rising caseload.
While the amount of vaccines given out appears to be good news, Mr Johnson has warned there were “unquestionably going to be a tough few weeks” as he urged people to observe the lockdown rules.
Speaking on Thursday, the Prime Minister said it was still “too early” to discuss lifting restrictions as figures from an Imperial College London survey showed the virus to be “not more deadly, but it is much more contagious and the numbers are very great”.
Downing Street said it was increasingly confident it would hit its target as long as a steady supply was maintained.
While the daily doses have been consistently high in recent weeks, Number 10 has admitted the numbers “will fluctuate”, underling efforts to bring more vaccination sites online.
On Monday, the NHS provided just 204,000 first doses, well below its target rate.
Ministers insist there is enough guaranteed supply from Pfizer and AstraZeneca to hit the target, but have refused to specify how many doses are actually present in the UK.
