People aged 45 to 49 are now being invited to book their vaccination appointments, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced.
More than 32 million people have been given a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. According to the DHSC, jabs have been offered to everyone aged 50 and over, health and care workers and clinically vulnerable.
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‘I’m delighted that across the UK, we’ve met our target to offer a vaccine to everyone in the top 9 priority groups, ahead of the deadline of 15 of April,’ said Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock.
‘We’ve now delivered a first dose to over 32 million people, and are on track to offer a vaccine to all adults by the end of July. This weekend we also saw a record number of second doses, so overall, as of midnight last night, we have now delivered more than 40 million doses of vaccines right across the UK. It’s a remarkable achievement.’
According to the DHSC, everybody in cohorts 1 to 9 has been offered a vaccine, meeting the government’s 15 April target ahead of time. This group accounts for 99% of all COVID-19 deaths during the pandemic, so by offering them the vaccine, we are helping ensure the most vulnerable are protected from the virus.
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‘I would like to pay tribute to our fantastic NHS, our frontline vaccinators, our volunteers, armed forces, local authorities and all those working on the vaccination programme,’ said Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi.
‘I’m very grateful for their tireless efforts in vaccinating those most at risk across the country. We are making phenomenal progress, but we continue to remained focused to make sure nobody is left behind.’