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More than 5,000,000 people in the UK have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the latest government figures.
A total of 5,383,103 have received the first puncture, and so far another 466,796 people have also received their second inoculation against the virus.
It comes after the UK reported another 1,401 coronavirus deaths and 40,261 additional infections on Friday. The total number of deaths in the UK is now 95,981.
The R number, the average number of secondary infections produced by a single infected person, is currently between 0.8 and 1, with a daily infection growth rate ranging from -4% to -1%, figures show. .
Earlier this week, the health secretary said the NHS is vaccinating people against coronavirus at the rate of 200 strokes per minute.
However, Matt Hancock warned: “In the meantime, everyone must follow the rules to protect the NHS and save lives, and we can do so safely knowing that the tide will turn and that, with science, we will prevail.”
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Hancock told MPs that 63% of nursing home residents have now been inoculated, and he said the first clues are that COVID-19 vaccines can cope with some of the newer variants of the virus.
Meanwhile, Professor Anthony Harnden, vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), has insisted that the government is “on track” to reach its goal of reaching 15 million people with vaccines by mid-February.
He said daily numbers on the number of vaccinated, which showed a drop earlier this week, “are often not representative of the general trend.”
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he added: “We often get supplies of vaccines, for example from our own practice in the middle of the week and get immunized at the end of the week, so I think it’s much better to look at a trend. weekly, instead of the daily figure. “
He said the UK is in a “desperate situation” at the moment and insisted that delaying the second dose of vaccines for up to 12 weeks is the right thing to do.
The history of using other vaccines has shown that “one dose often offers really good protection,” he said.
He added: “For example, the HPV vaccine was initially licensed for three doses, now we are thinking of giving it as one dose.
“And there are many examples of this, it is biologically completely implausible that the protection (from one dose) suddenly wears off after three weeks.
“So from a public health perspective, an emergency perspective, this is the right thing to do.”
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It comes after the percentage of people positive test for COVID-19 in England it has decreased slightly, according to figures from the ONS.
About one in 55 people who were not in residences, hospitals or other institutional settings contracted the virus in the week ending January 16.
In the last comprehensive infection survey published two weeks ago, one in 50 people had the virus.
