Record-breaking day for Covid vaccines as nearly 600k jabs given in just 24 hours in UK

A RECORD-BREAKING 598,389 Covid-19 jabs have been given out in the past 24 hours in the UK.

The total number of people in the UK who have now received at least one dose of the vaccine is 8,977,329.

Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates

Of that figure, 549,943 were given in England.
 
A further 25,299 jabs were administered in Wales and 23,055 in Scotland. Figures for Northern Ireland have not been published.

The previous record-breaking day was on January 23 when 491,970 people received their first dose within the past 24 hours.

In other positive news, there has been a 30 per cent drop on Covid-19 cases compared to last Sunday figures.

Matt Hancock told BBC Politics East today he was confident that “vast majority of adults will have been vaccinated” by the summer.

The Health Secrtary said: “In six months we’ll be in the middle, I hope, of a happy and free Great British summer.

“I have a high degree of confidence that by then the vast majority of adults will have been vaccinated.”

Britain’s immunisation campaign has surged ahead of many nations in Europe and the West, while poorer countries have struggled to begin the rollout.

The World Health Organisation yesterday urged the UK to halt its vaccination programme once vulnerable groups had received their jabs in order to ensure the global rollout is fair.

The UK is aiming to vaccinate around 15 million vulnerable Brits in the top four priority groups by mid-February – a target which is seen as key to beginning to lift restrictions.

It comes as at only at the beginning of the month that we launched our drive to support the Royal Voluntary Service in amassing our Jabs Army of helpers.

Just 18 days later, you helped us reach our target of signing up 50,000 people as stewards to assist in rolling out Covid vaccines to the population.

Meanwhile, a new study shows that vaccines may already be slowing transmission of the bug – just two months after the first jab was given.

As inoculations rack up, early data shows the crisis is easing and the number of people testing positive is already dropping, experts say.

The research, which will be published within days, will also provide evidence that Brits are protected with just one dose, the Times reports.

Scientists are not certain whether the jab prevents people passing on the virus, though early data from Israel suggests it could suppress transmission, the Telegraph reports.

Infection rates in the over-80s, many of whom have now received the jab, have fallen by 36 per cent this month. Other age groups have seen similar falls.

It comes as 587 Brits have died with Covid – but there are hopes the country has turned a corner in the battle against the pandemic as cases continue to plunge.

In total, 21,088 more were diagnosed with the virus overnight – a 30 per cent drop on last Sunday, when 30,004 new cases were reported.

It means that 3,817,176 people have now been diagnosed with coronavirus overall in the UK.

This time last week, 610 more deaths were recorded.