MORE than 10million people in the UK have now received their second coronavirus vaccine – meaning almost one in five adults are now fully protected.
Cases and deaths continue to fall and the huge milestone brings more good news for the already record-breaking vaccine rollout.
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Someone who has had two vaccines can still catch Covid, but they are protected against severe illness – with everyone urged to get both doses.
Depending on which brand of jab given, people with two shots will have around 90 per cent protection.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted this afternoon: “Over 10 million second vaccine doses have been administered across the UK.
“This milestone shows how far we’ve come in our fight against this virus & I want to pay tribute to the whole team involved.”
Yesterday UK cases dropped by 60 per cent in a month as 2,206 more people tested positive for the virus and another 35 died.
Compared to March 17, when 5,758 cases were recorded, the number of positive tests recorded daily have dropped by almost two thirds.
It comes as:
- UK cases of Indian Covid variant DOUBLE in a week to 160 raising fears it could delay roadmap
- Israel, Iceland and America among only EIGHT countries on the green list for travel from May 17, sources claim
- Scots woman tells of heartbreak after mum and two sisters die of Covid-19 within 11 days of each other
- Indian Covid variant ‘high concern’ after cases double but ‘no evidence’ it can beat vaccines, minister insists
There have been a total of 4,385,938 recorded cases of the virus in the UK and 127,225 deaths from Covid since the pandemic began.
The number of cases is 14 per cent lower than last Saturday, when there were 2,584 cases and 40 deaths.
The news as Brits hit boozers on the first weekend after pubs, shops, hairdressers and gyms reopened this week.
It comes a week after Brits in their 40s were invited to start booking in for vaccines.
Boris Johnson hailed it as a “hugely significant milestone”.
BRITAIN’S PROGRESS
And last week it was confirmed pregnant women should be offered a Covid-19 vaccine at the same time as the rest of the population.
Many women have previously chosen to avoid the Covid vaccine due to a lack of evidence on its impact on pregnancies.
But experts have now confirmed that the jabs are safe to be offered to all expecting mums in line with recommendations already put in place by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
But concerns still remain about new strains of the virus which threaten to derail lockdown easings in Britain.
A “concerning” new Indian strain of the virus has been detected in 77 cases in the UK so far, Public Health England revealed.
Experts say the variant has two mutations that could help it escape antibodies.
And cases of the South African variant in the UK have doubled in a month.
There are now 600 known infections, a rise on from 300 last month, according to Public Health England data.
