Britain has now vaccinated over 21 million people. We are averaging almost 2.5 million doses a week, and almost 40 per cent of adults across the country have now received their first dose.
Locally, more than 334,000 vaccines have been administered across Surrey Heartlands. Anyone in higher priority groups (groups 1-4) who has yet to take up the offer of a vaccine can still do so by contacting 119 or their GP practice, or by visiting nhs.uk/covid-vaccination.
The Government is now accelerating vaccine rollout targets. We met our target of offering a vaccine to everyone in the top four priority groups by 15 February, and are now aiming to offer a vaccine to all adults by the end of July.
The latest data clearly shows that both the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines reduce the likelihood of serious illness by 60 per cent after the first dose, and reduce the likelihood of hospitalisation by 80 per cent after one dose.
Britain has secured early access to 457 million doses of eight of the world’s most promising vaccines so far. We were the first country in the world to procure, authorise and then deploy both the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines. To date, we have invested over £300 million into manufacturing a successful vaccine, with facilities across Britain working at pace to supply the biggest vaccination programme in our history.
CoVax (the global vaccine alliance) has delivered millions of vaccines to developing countries this week. As the biggest donor of CoVax, Britain has been leading from the front on this by committing £548 million in British aid to help distribute 1.3 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines to 92 developing countries this year.
If you have any questions or concerns about the roll-out, there is a dedicated vaccination email and phone service you can contact: [email protected] / 0300 561 2500 – lines are open from 9am to 4pm, Monday to Friday only. As ever, if you need my help, please email me at [email protected].
