Coronavirus: When will the UK be fully vaccinated against Covid?

Six months on from Margaret Keenan, 91, becoming the first person in the world to receive the jab outside of a clinical trial, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all making steady progress

This Tuesday marks exactly six months since 91-year-old grandmother Margaret Keenan of Coventry became the first patient in the world to receive a Covid-19 jab outside of a clinical trial when she was given the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine at the cathedral city’s University Hospital on 8 December 2020.

Since then, more than 40 million British adults have had a jab, with health secretary Matt Hancock telling his fellow MPs in Parliament on Monday that the approved Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccines are “working” and serving to “bring us hope”, even as new strains of the original coronavirus, particularly the Delta variant, raise questions about the wisdom of ending the last social restrictions imposed on the public on 21 June.

Reflecting on the success of the vaccine rollout since the new year, NHS England’s national medical director Stephen Powis said: “We have now vaccinated three-quarters of the adult population with their first dose and over half with their second dose. That really is a tremendous achievement and of course the vaccine programme is our way out of this pandemic, so it is crucial that when you get the invite for your jab, come and get it.”

Here’s a look at the very latest statistics for the home nations and how each is faring in the fight for immunity on the day that people in England aged between 25 and 29 are invited to get a jab for the first time.

England

As of 6 June, England has now delivered 23,710,646 second doses of one of the coronavirus vaccines, meaning the equivalent of 53.6 per cent of the country’s adult population is now fully vaccinated, with 76.4 per cent have received at least one jab.

NHS England’s latest figures for vaccine doses by age group are available up to 30 May and find approximately 79.4 per cent of people aged 50 and over now fully vaccinated, as well as 91.6 per cent of those aged 80 and over and 97.1 per cent of retirees aged between 70 to 79.

An estimated 90 per cent of 65 to 69-year-olds have had both doses, as have 83 per cent of 60 to 64-year-olds, 61.9 per cent of 55 to 59-year-olds and 55 per cent of 50 to 54-year-olds.

Among elderly care home residents, 89.6 per cent are now fully vaccinated, but only 67.4 per cent of eligible staff have so far had both doses.

Scotland

In Scotland, 50.8 per cent of adults are now fully vaccinated with  2,251,259 second doses administered as of 7 June, while 76.4 per cent of adults have received their first dose.

That puts Scotland behind England but ahead of Wales and Northern Ireland in the first instance and behind Wales in the second, where it is on a par with England but ahead of Northern Ireland.

Public Health Scotland says the country has fully vaccinated more than 90 per cent of people in all age groups over 65, an impressive feat.

Among the over 80s, the estimate is 94.4 per cent, while those aged 75 to 79 are up to 98.4 per cent, the 70 to 74-year-olds are almost there on 99.3 per cent and the 65 to 69-year-olds on 96.5 per cent.

Scotland is ahead of the other home nations in some of the younger age groups too, with 88.2 per cent of its 60 to 64-year-old population now fully vaccinated, along with 71.6 per cent of those aged 55 to 59 and 47.2 per cent of people aged 50 to 54.

When it comes to its most vulnerable citizens, 93.3 per cent of Scottish care home residents have now received both doses, while 90.9 per cent of those who were advised to shield during the pandemic because of a prior condition have now been safeguarded.

Also very impressively, 99.8 per cent of the country’s care home staff are now fully vaccinated, as are 86.5 per cent of frontline healthcare workers.

Wales

In Wales, the equivalent of 49.5 per cent of the adult population of Wales is now fully vaccinated, with 1,249,268 second jabs administered as of 6 June. However, a massive 86.5 per cent of adults have received a first jab.

That means that, overall, about 69.3 per cent of the total Welsh population has received a first dose, putting it well ahead of all other nations around the world with populations of more than one million, according to a justly proud Wales Online.

Second-placed Israel has just 63.1 per cent of its total population vaccinated at the time of writing.

Breaking down that Public Health Wales data, more than 90 per cent of people in age groups over 65 are now fully vaccinated, with those aged 80 and over currently on 92.8 per cent, the 75 to 79 bracket on 94.3 per cent and the 70 to 74-year-olds on 93.9 per cent and the 65 to 69-year-olds on 90.3 per cent.

The numbers are not quite so eye-catching but still strong in the 64 and under categories, with 78.4 per cent of 60 to 64-year-olds estimated to have received both doses and the same is true for 51.5 per cent of 55 to 59-year-olds and 39.5 per cent of 50 to 54-year-olds.

Wales has meanwhile succeeded in fully vaccinating 93.1 per cent of its care home residents, as well as 83.7 per cent of staff and 88.4 per cent of healthcare workers overall.

In addition, 88.2 per cent of those aged 16 to 69 who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable have also had both of their doses.

Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, an estimated 48.9 per cent of Northern Ireland’s adult population is now fully vaccinated, with 710,121 second doses administered according to the Northern Ireland Department of Health, while a first dose has been given to 75.1 per cent of adults.

In both instances, those are the lowest numbers among the UK home nations but still represent huge progress, particularly among older citizens, where 94.2 per cent of people aged 80 and over are now fully vaccinated, as well as 93.9 per cent of 70 to 79-year-olds and 89.5 per cent of 60 to 69-year-olds.

Among 50 to 59-year-olds the estimate is lower, however, at 58.5 per cent.

So when will the UK be fully vaccinated?

The UK government hit its target of offering a first jab to everyone in the top priority groups before 15 April - ensuring that all those over the age of 50, plus those in high-risk categories, were vaccinated first off, those groups accounting for 99 per cent of the 128,000 coronavirus deaths suffered so far.

The government now plans to vaccinate the rest of the adult population with a first jab in age order by the end of July, meaning delivering the vaccine to another 21 million people yet to receive one.

So far, no further deadlines have been set but we are currently on target to surpass the July target, so long as the vaccine supply remains steady and no other complicating factors emerge, and could be closer to having three-quarters of the population fully vaccinated by the end of next month.

An average of more than 340,000 second doses are now being given out every day, according to the BBC, and the delivery of second doses to the over 50s in England has been accelerated in recent weeks in response to the emergence of the Delta variant of the virus, which is now thought to be 40 per cent more transmissible than the original strain and threatens to derail the final stage of lockdown easing.

The UK still has some way to go but there is no question the vaccine rollout to this point has been a logistical triumph.