More than 2.2 million people in the UK have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, figures show, as the Government begins releasing data on daily uptake.
The number of people who have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine between 8 December and 10 January was 2,286,572.
The breakdown in each nation was:
- England: 1,959,151
- Scotland: 163,377
- Wales: 86,039
- Northern Ireland: 78,005
More than 2.6 million vaccine doses (2,675,213) have been administered overall in the UK – excluding the number of second doses in Scotland – over the same time period.
The UK vaccines delivery plan is a culmination of all our hard work so far, and sets some very-promising and challenging ambitions for the next few months
NHS England will publish a more-detailed breakdown of their figures every week – starting from tomorrow – which will include vaccinations in England by specific region.
The NHS will be offering a vaccination to everyone in the top four priority groups as set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation by 15 February.
This includes:
- All residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
- All those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
- All those 75 years of age and over
- All those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely-vulnerable individuals
The efforts are part of the UK COVID-19 vaccines delivery plan , which sets out how the Government will work with the NHS, devolved administrations, local councils, and the Armed Forces to deliver the largest vaccination programme in British history.
Under the plan, by the end of this month, everyone in England will be within 10 miles of a vaccination site or, for a small number of highly-rural areas, the vaccine will be brought to them via mobile teams.
There will also be capacity to deliver at least two million vaccinations in England per week by the end of January, and all residents and staff in over 10,000 care homes across the country will be offered a vaccine by the end of the month.
This will be made possible by the rapid expansion of the programme, including:
- 206 active hospital sites
- 50 vaccination centres
- Around 1,200 local vaccination sites – including primary care networks, community pharmacy sites and mobile teams
This will mean every at-risk person has easy access to a vaccination centre, regardless of where they live.
The expansion of the programme will also mean all adults will be offered a vaccine by the autumn.
The Government and the NHS have also mobilised a workforce of over 80,000 health professionals to help in the delivery of the programme across the different vaccination sites, with over 200,000 additional members of the public expressing their interest in helping with the non-clinical elements of the rollout, such as administrative support, logistics, and as stewards and first aiders.
Health and Social Care Secretary, Matt Hancock, said: “It’s taken a tremendous amount of hard work and dedication to make such an incredible start to this ambitious deployment programme.
Our UK COVID-19 vaccines delivery plan maps our route back to normality, but it does not mean we can be complacent, and it is mission critical that everybody abides by the restrictions in the coming weeks
“Our vaccine deployment plan sets out exactly how we will harness these efforts to expand the programme quickly and safely.
“Our UK COVID-19 vaccines delivery plan maps our route back to normality, but it does not mean we can be complacent, and it is mission critical that everybody abides by the restrictions in the coming weeks.
“The next few months will present a significant opportunity to turn the tide of battle against COVID – I am looking forward to watching these plans bring more reassurance and hope back to people’s lives after a difficult year.”
The plan is split into four main areas:
- Supply – including the development and manufacturing of vaccines, ensuring their safety and effectiveness
- Prioritisation – insight into the first two phases of deployment
- Places – ensuring simple, fair and convenient access to vaccinations for the public, regardless of where they live
- People – mobilising the workforce and providing information on vaccinations to local communities
So far, over two million people in the UK have been vaccinated with the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccines since the vaccination programme began.
And, through the vaccines taskforce, the UK has secured early access to 367 million doses of seven of the most-promising vaccines so far.
In the Chancellor’s Spending Review, published on 25 November, it was announced that the Government has made more than £6billion available to develop and procure successful vaccines.
Minister for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment, Nadhim Zahawi, said: “The UK vaccines delivery plan is a culmination of all our hard work so far, and sets some very-promising and challenging ambitions for the next few months.
“I have every faith the NHS will rise to the task and meet these ambitions, providing thousands of vulnerable and at-risk individuals that crucial extra protection they need.”