Half of all UK adults have received their first vaccine dose, says Matt Hancock
More than half of the UK’s adult population has received the first dose of a Covid vaccine, according to the health secretary.
“I’m delighted to be able to say that we’ve now vaccinated HALF of all adults in the UK,” Matt Hancock said on Twitter.
“The vaccine is a national success story and our way out of this pandemic. When you get the call, get the jab.”
It means that the government’s target of vaccinating the first nine priority groups by the 15 April will be achieved well ahead of time.
Boris Johnson has set a target of offering a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine to everyone aged 18 or over in the UK by the end of this July.
A total of 660,276 doses were administered across the UK on Thursday, the highest date to record. It includes 528,260 first jabs and 132,016 of second doses.
The rate of progress is likely to slow over the next month after a manufacturing shortfall in India which could delay 1.7m doses. tothe UK.
A shipment of 1.7m doses of the Astrazeneca vaccine expected from the Serum Institute of India has been held up by four weeks, Hancock said on Thursday.
“In April, supply is tighter than this month and we have a huge number of second doses to deliver…. In the last week, we’ve had a batch of 1.7m doses delayed because of the need to retest its stability. Events like this are to be expected in a manufacturing endeavour of this complexity and this shows the rigour of our safety checks,” he told the Commons.