THE CORONAVIRUS vaccine has been offered to every care home resident in Britain.
It comes as a record-breaking 598,389 jabs were given out in the past 24 hours across the UK.
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NHS England said people living at more than 10,000 care homes with older residents had been offered the jab.
A small number of homes had visits deferred for safety reasons during a local outbreak but would be visited as soon as it was safe for NHS staff to do so, a spokesman for NHS England said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed the “crucial milestone” of vaccinating every possible care home resident in the country.
Mr Johnson said: “Today marks a crucial milestone in our ongoing race to vaccinate the most vulner-able against this deadly disease.
“We said we would prioritise and protect care home residents, and that is exactly what we have done.
“There will be difficult moments to come, and the number of cases and people in hospital remains dangerously high.
“But vaccines are our route out of the pandemic, and having protected 8.9million people with a first dose so far, our rollout programme will only accelerate from here on.”
Staff are also returning to homes to deliver vaccines to any residents who were unable to have it on the previous visit for clinical reasons.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock added: “This achievement to deliver a safe, effective vaccine has only been made possible by the remarkable scientists, our dedicated care home staff and volunteers and our incredible NHS all working together.
BREAKING RECORDS
“While we celebrate this success, we will never forget the loss of life and my thoughts are with all those who have lost someone close to them.”
In the past 24 hours some 549,943 vaccines were given in England, a further 25,299 jabs administered in Wales and 23,055 in Scotland. Figures for Northern Ireland have not been published.
It is the first time more than half a million Brits have received a dose in 24 hours.
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 yesterday 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.”
JABS ARMY
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.
