More than half of over-80s have now had Covid jabs: Matt Hancock reveals the good news as as he claims we are 'on the home straight' - but Dominic Raab hints all adults might not be vaccinated before September
- Health Secretary made the announcement on Twitter this morning
- Sir Simon Stevens said NHS is vaccinating at a rate of '140 jabs a minute'
- Dominic Raab hints all adults might not be vaccinated before SeptemberMore than half of over-80s have had Covid jabs according to Matt Hancock despite Dominic Raab's hints that all adults may not be vaccinated before September.
The Health Secretary made the announcement on Twitter the morning after saying the UK is 'nearly on the home strait' out of the pandemic.
He said: 'I'm delighted that over half of all over-80s have been vaccinated.
'Each jab brings us one step closer to normal. Stay at home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.'
It comes after NHS boss Sir Simon Stevens said the NHS in England is vaccinating at a rate of '140 jabs a minute'.
The Health Secretary made the announcement on Twitter the morning after saying the UK is 'nearly on the home strait' out of the pandemic
He added that round-the-clock testing will be available in some hospitals over the course of the next 10 days.
However, Dominic Raab today failed to guarantee that everyone will receive a second dose of a coronavirus vaccine within a 12 week target period as he dampened hopes of all UK adults getting the jab by the end of June.
The Government has chosen to deliver the two required doses of the vaccines 12 weeks apart in order to get more people vaccinated with the first jab as quickly as possible.
However, there are concerns that supply issues could hamper efforts to hit that target.
However, Dominic Raab today failed to guarantee that everyone will receive a second dose of a coronavirus vaccine within a 12 week target period as he dampened hopes of all UK adults getting the jab by the end of June
The Government has chosen to deliver the two required doses of the vaccines 12 weeks apart in order to get more people vaccinated with the first jab as quickly as possible
Mr Raab said this morning the Government 'should be able to deliver it' and he is 'quietly confident' the UK will get there but he declined to make a firm promise.
Reports overnight suggested that ministers are now privately aiming to have vaccinated every UK adult by the end of June.
But Mr Raab played down the idea of a much faster vaccine roll-out as he insisted the Government's target is still September for having offered every adult a first dose.
The Foreign Secretary also said that 'hopefully by March' the Government will be in a position to begin easing lockdown restrictions.
His comments came as ten new vaccine centres are set to open across England on Monday with more than a million over-80s invited to receive their coronavirus jab.
The Government is increasingly bullish about the speed of Britain's vaccination drive, with more than 3.5million people having received their first dose as of Saturday.
Whitehall sources are confident of accelerating the pace of the rollout to a point where four to five million people are receiving their shots each week.
Mr Hancock said the UK is 'nearly on the home straight' as 324,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines were administered in the space of 24 hours.
More than 3.5 million people in the UK have now received their first dose of a vaccine, with Boris Johnson having hailed those helping the 'fantastic national effort'.
The vaccination bid will be further supported by the new centres opening tomorrow, which NHS England says will offer 'thousands' of jabs every week.
The ten new centres include a rugby ground, a racecourse, a food court and a cathedral and will mean there is at least one hub in each English region.
They will join seven hubs previously opened to support the mass-immunisation programme, as well as 1,000 GP-led surgeries and more than 250 hospitals.
People over 80 who live a 45 minute drive from one of the centres are being offered a vaccination. Around 641,000 invitations were sent out last week and another 380,000 will arrive at people's homes this weekend before another 500,000 letters go out this week. Anyone who cannot travel can wait to be contacted by their GP-led service or hospital.
The hubs will come as welcome news to ministers who have long hailed mass immunisation through jabs as the path to lifting lockdown.
Writing in the Sunday Express, Mr Hancock said: 'We can see the way out of this pandemic. We are nearly on the home straight. After months of detailed preparations, rigorous scientific scrutiny and an extraordinary amount of patience, we are rolling out two highly effective vaccines, with a third coming in spring and others progressing through clinical trials.
'We're rolling it out to as many vulnerable people as possible and we expect tens of millions of people to be vaccinated by the spring.'
Ministers are urging the public to 'play their part' in supporting the vaccination programme, such as by helping the elderly attend their appointments.
The UK's virus-fighting power was dealt another boost yesterday after the boss of a new state-of-the-art vaccine production factory said it was on standby to tackle any future variants and produce jabs at breakneck speed.
And in a triple lift for vaccination efforts, the Mail on Sunday revealed French drugs firm Valneva is just 'days away' from kick-starting manufacture of its jab on British soil - with the UK set to receive 60million doses.
Boris Johnson, pictured returning to Downing Street today, is aiming to have vaccinated the 13.9million most vulnerable people in the UK by the middle of February
A medical worker administers an injection of the coronavirus vaccine inside a former nightclub that has been turned into a NHS vaccine centre, in Batchwood Hall, in St Albans
The hall would normally be an ice skating rink at this time of year. Staff hard at work transforming the Purbeck Hall of the Bournemouth International Centre into the largest Covid 19 vaccination centre in Dorset which is due to open on Monday
Covid-19 vaccines will be administered at the Salt Hill Activity Centre in Slough, one of 10 new vaccine hubs set to open Monday
The St Helens Rugby Ground, Merseyside, is another one of the ten mass vaccination hubs that are set to open and treat patients from tomorrow
Another vaccine hub, the Olympic Office Centre in Wembley. The country is currently pressing ahead with the biggest vaccine rollout in its history and by Saturday over 3.5million people had received their first doses
The Princess Royal Sports Arena Lincolnshire will open its doors to the public from Monday to offer coronavirus vaccine jabsSpeaking to Sophy Ridge on Sky News this morning, Mr Raab failed to guarantee that everyone will receive a second dose within the target 12 week window.
He said: 'I think if we follow the road map and the supply chains that we have set out and that I have articulated along with the back-up that we have got because we have got the volume of doses, 360million, we have also got seven suppliers, we ought to be able to deliver on that.
'But of course look, right the way through this pandemic we have had to adapt to all sorts of different things.
'So we are just focused on making sure we deliver in the road map that we have got, we have got the distribution, the logistics in place, the NHS backed up by the armed forces have done an incredible job, local authorities have done an incredible job, now we have just got to deliver on that.'
Told that people might be concerned at his failure to guarantee a second dose within 12 weeks, Mr Raab said: 'We absolutely are aiming for that, we should be able to deliver it and actually if you look at our track record which is what I think people ultimately judge us on, we are well out ahead of any other country in Europe, we are a global leader frankly in rolling out a responsible vaccine and I think we can be quietly confident.'
Mr Raab was asked whether reports of all UK adults being vaccinated by the end of June are realistic and he said: 'Well look, we have got this three point roadmap to make sure that by February 15 we have got 15million people, the highest risk people, 88 per cent of those most at risk of dying as a result of coronavirus, we want them to get their first dose.
'We then want to increase that by another 17million by the spring, that would take around 99 per cent of those most at risk would then have had their first dose.
'Our target is by September to have offered all the adult population a first dose. If we can do it faster than that, great, but that is the road map.'
A Government source had told the Sunday Telegraph that ministers are hoping to have given a first dose to all UK adults by the end of June, telling the newspaper: 'All over-18s by June – yes.'
However, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: 'We do not recognise the 'internal target' referenced. Our aim is to offer priority groups 1-4 their first jab by the 15th of February.
'Through the UK vaccines delivery plan we are making fantastic progress rolling out jabs as quickly as possible to the most vulnerable.'
Mr Raab said the UK must stick to lockdown rules, which include a ban on going on holiday, as he warned the NHS is 'on the cusp' after a surge in cases.
He said: 'There is very clear advice which applies to all travel in the UK... I think right now people should be staying at unless it is absolutely necessary.
'So no, they shouldn't be going on holiday, I don't think that is appropriate, any travel domestic or otherwise ought to be for the limited exceptions that have been spelt out.
'I do think... we have got this narrow period where the NHS is on the cusp, we have got to protect it, we have got the light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine roll-out, we have just got to stay at home as much as possible unless there are really strong limited exceptional reasons for travelling domestically or internationally and that is the way we get through to a better place.'
Mr Raab echoed language used by the Prime Minister as he said there would not be a 'big bang' out of lockdown but suggested some measures could start to be eased in March.
He said: 'Of course, what we want to do is get out of these national lockdowns as soon as possible, the roadmap that I described is that by early spring, hopefully by March, we'll be in a position to make those decisions.
'I think it's right to say we won't do it all in one big bang; as we phase out of the national lockdown, I think we'll end up phasing through the tiered approach.'
Tory rebels demand Boris Johnson publish a 'clear road map' to begin easing the national lockdown from March 8
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