Six MILLION Brits fully vaccinated against Covid as NHS hits major milestone

SIX million Brits have now been fully vaccinated against Covid as the NHS hits another major milestone.

Nearly 32million have had their first doses as the UK continues to steam on with the rollout.

? Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

Another 99,530 first jabs were given to Brits yesterday, pushing up the total to 31,807,124.

And there were 408,396 second jabs dished out- which is the second highest in a day to date.

This took the total number of people fully vaccinated against the killer bug to 6,091,905.

It comes days ahead of another milestone for people in the lockdown release roadmap – Monday will see pubs and non-essential shops opening back up.

It comes as:

  • UK has enough Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to cover ALL under-30s
  • Britain ‘will achieve herd immunity next week’
  • Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine blood clot risk just 0.000095% 
  • Nigerian Covid variant ‘even deadlier than South African strain’
  • AstraZeneca jab’s blood clot risk is SAME as taking long-haul flight 

The rollout of the jab could also be "breaking the link" between infections and deaths, according to the latest research from the React study.

Boris Johnson is now facing calls to lift lockdown faster as Covid infections fade to the lowest levels since July – with cases more than halving in a week.

Experts say there are now less than 2,000 new symptomatic infections of the virus on a daily basis.

Data from the ZOE Symptom Tracker app shows that in the last week 1,924 new cases of the virus were recorded a day, a huge drop down from 4,152 daily cases a week ago.

And Covid cases have plummeted 32 per cent in a week with 3,030 new infections recorded in the UK in the last 24 hours.

A further 53 deaths were also reported, bringing the total to 126,980.

Professor Tim Spector, lead author, said the UK is now in a similar position to last summer when the country had opened back up again – with the country seeing the lowest cases in Europe.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith told MailOnline the UK's release from lockdown "should be quicker" now, to reflect the positive new data instead of the PM's current "deeply pessimistic" roadmap.

ROAD TO FREEDOM

Yesterday the UK's medicines regulator – the MHRA – recommended Brits under 30 are offered an alternative jab to AstraZeneca, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

This morning, Matt Hancock insisted the benefits of the jab outweigh the risks, with some under-30s suffering badly from long Covid.

He told BBC Breakfast: "The safety system that we have around this vaccine is so sensitive that it can pick up events that are four in a million – I'm told this is about the equivalent risk of taking a long-haul flight."

Earlier Mr Hancock reassured people that Britain has "more than enough" Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to cover all under-30 after it was announced yesterday 18 to 29-year-olds will be offered these over the AZ jab.

The health secretary said the UK is still “on track” to hit its target of offering all adults the shot by the end of July and “we are in good shape” on future supply of doses.

And he said yesterday’s decision by the MHRA to offer younger people a choice of vaccine over “very rare” blood clots linked to the AZ jab should give people confidence in Britain’s “world class” safety regulation.

Brits have been urged to carry on getting their vaccines, despite the very small risk of developing a rare clot.

It also emerged today that pub-goers will not have to rely on cash and will be able to use their cards indoors when they drink in beer gardens from Monday.

Drinkers have been booking outdoor tables in their thousands as pubs gear up to open their doors next week.

UK Hospitality CEO Kate Nicholls today confirmed to The Sun Online that the Government guidance is being amended to allow for indoor payment.


 

Source: Read Full Article