Nearly a million people receive first dose of vaccine over the weekend
Nearly a million people were vaccinated over the weekend bringing the total number of first dose jabs administered to 9.2m.
In a Downing Street briefing, health secretary Matt Hancock confirmed 931,204 first dose jabs were administered over the weekend.
Almost 9 in 10 of all over-80s have now received the jab and as of today over half of all people in their 70s. In England every eligible care home resident and employee has been offered a vaccination.
Earlier today the government confirmed it had secured 40m Valneva doses, which is yet to be approved by the regulator.
Hancock confirmed that the government has sufficient supply to offer everyone in the top four priority groups a vaccine by 15 February.
Despite the success of the vaccine rollout, the government has had to deploy surge testing in parts of England where the South African variant has been found.
Public Health England’s recent analysis shows 11 cases have been found across the affected localities that cannot be traced back to international travel. In total 105 cases of the variant have been identified.
“In response to this, we are ramping up testing in targeted areas, so we can gather more information and effectively monitor any further community transmission,” Dr Susan Hopkins, PHE’s strategic response director said.
Around 80,000 over-16s have been “strongly encouraged” to take a coronavirus test this week, with enhanced testing rolling out in W7 in Ealing, N17 in Haringey and CR4 in Merton.
Despite concerns over the spread of the variant, there has been a slowdown in cases.
PHE today recorded 18,607 positive cases and 2,891 new hospital admissions. There were 406 new fatalities but the number is likely a result of a lag over the weekend.