Covid vaccine: More than half UK population has now had first jab

NHS chief hails ‘astonishing achievement’ as milestone passed in under five months

Over half of the UK’s total population has now received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to official figures.

The first dose total stands at 33,508,590 as of 23 April after the latest figures for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland were included.

That takes it past the half way point to the total UK population of 66,796,807 and a further step towards the government’s target of offering all adults a jab by the end of July.

“It is an astonishing achievement that half of the UK population has now had at least one Covid-19 jab,” said Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers.

“In under five months, frontline NHS staff in trusts and primary care and volunteers have done an incredible job giving out over 33 million first jabs and more than 11 million second doses.

“We owe each and every one of them our thanks. We’ve made truly significant progress, but we’ve still got a long way to go until we reach our next major milestone of offering all adults their first jab by the end of July.”

Anyone aged 45 and over can now book an appointment for a vaccination in England, as well as healthcare workers and people who are clinically vulnerable.

With the UK’s rollout now into its fifth month, analysis from Oxford and the Office for National Statistics has indicated that a single dose of the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine significantly reduces all types of infection – both symptomatic and asymptomatic – by 65 per cent. And protection lasts for at least 10 weeks.

Two doses of the Pfizer vaccine offered similar levels of protection against Covid-19 as natural immunity after infection, according to the Oxford study, and caused a 90 per cent drop in symptomatic cases among the vaccinated.

Professor Sarah Walker, from the University of Oxford and chief investigator for the survey, said the study suggested vaccines could reduce transmission and were also effective against the Kent variant of coronavirus.

However it is not yet known whether the vaccines are just as effective against the so-called “double mutated” variant of the coronavirus first observed in India, which is struggling to cope with a huge wave of cases.

A total of 132 infections with the B1617 variant have been identified in the UK so far, prompting calls for the government to reconsider allowing international travel from 17 May.

India has been added to the travel ban red list, meaning that UK and Irish residents and British citizens will need to quarantine in a hotel on their arrival in this country. Anyone else cannot enter the UK if they have been in India in the previous 10 days.

Additional reporting by Press Association