More than 30 million people in the UK have now had a first COVID vaccine dose.
New government figures show 30,151,287 have had a first dose – around 57% of all UK adults.
A total of 3,527,481 have now had two doses – 6% of the adult population.
Ministers remain confident that all over-50s will have been offered a first dose by 15 April. The government aims to offer all adults a jab by the end of July.
The 30 million threshold was passed as 3862 new coronavirus cases and 19 deaths were reported in the UK on Sunday.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that more than 30 million people have now had the jab across the UK – including 650,000 vaccinations delivered yesterday.
“The vaccine is saving lives and is our route out of this pandemic. I want to say a massive thanks to the team.
“When you get the call – get the jab.”
The UK has planned to ensure people get their second dose on time – in the specified 12-week timeframe, said Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden.
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Second jab supply ‘factored into planning’ – Dowden
“Yes, of course, we’ve been planning that all the way through,” he told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday.
“It’s one of the most important considerations as we’ve rolled out the vaccine. In all of our planning, we have factored in getting that second dose of the vaccine.”
The UK is expecting its first batch of Moderna jabs next month, a development which could see the vaccine rollout expanded to those aged between 40 and 49.
“We examined the data from Moderna, which looks very promising,” Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told BBC Breakfast on Sunday.
“If we’ve caught up with all those over-50s we want to reach out to, it makes sense to go toward our next age group, which is the 40 to 49-year-old age group.”
In all, the UK has ordered 17 million doses of the Moderna jab, 100 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca, and 40 million of BioNTech/Pfizer.
It has also ordered millions of doses of vaccines not yet approved by the UK’s medicines regulator:
- GlaxoSmithKline/Sanofi Pasteur (60 million doses)
- Novavax (60 million doses)
- Janssen (30 million doses)
- Valneva (100 million doses)
- CureVac (50 million doses)
The four stages of England’s lockdown lifting
England’s lockdown eases on Monday when the stay at home order ends, the rule of six returns, and organised outdoor sport can also resume.
People are still being encouraged to stay local however.
It comes a few weeks ahead of the next phase on 12 April, when outdoor hospitality, gyms and hairdressers can also get back to business.
Boris Johnson has said there is so far nothing in the data that suggests his roadmap to ease England’s lockdown will be delayed.