The UK has set a new record for the number of people jabbed in one day, pushing the total number of adults vaccinated to over 50%. ITV News has the story.
The UK has set a new record for the number of Covid jabs given, the second time the record has been broken in two days.
The record number – 711,156 first and second doses – means that the major milestone of vaccinating half of the adult population has been reached.
Government data up to the end of March 19th suggests that 26,853,407 people aged 18 and over have now received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine – around 51% of the population – while 2,132,551 second doses have been administered. A separate milestone has been passed in Wales, where one in 10 of the total population is likely to have had both doses of the vaccine.
Boris Johnson was amongst those to receive a Covid vaccine on Friday, with all over-50s in England now eligible to book a jab.
Given the continuing success of its vaccine rollout, why is the UK still under strict lockdown? Other countries which have been slower in getting their populations jabbed are unlocking at much faster paces in order to preserve the aspects of life beyond that of merely existing. Steve Baker, writing in the Sun, is quite right to ask: “Why are restrictions tougher than they were last Summer – before we had the Covid vaccine?”
The scientists tell us that the vaccines save lives, yet our success at rolling it out is not translating into a return to normal life.
Following a recent warning of a “significant reduction” in vaccines next month, some suggested that lockdown could be extended even further. Rejecting this suggestion is not enough – with the most vulnerable now already vaccinated against Covid, we should be leaving lockdown sooner.
The report on the UK’s vaccine rollout is worth reading in full.
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