UK hits 15m vaccine target by 15 February deadline
The UK has reached its target of immunising 15m people by 15 February, with Boris Johnson saying the four groups most vulnerable to Covid have all been offered the vaccine in England.
The Prime Minister labelled it an “extraordinary feat”.
“In England, I can tell you we have now offered jabs to everyone in the first four priority groups, the people most likely to be severely ill from coronavirus, hitting the first target we set ourselves,” he said.
“Tomorrow I’ll set out in full the details of the progress we’ve made in vaccinating these groups.”
Boris Johnson set the target last month of vaccinating all over 70s, all care and NHS workers and everyone considered clinically extremely vulnerable by 15 April.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab said earlier today that he was “confident” the UK will hit its target of vaccinating the 15m people most vulnerable to Covid by tomorrow.
Raab told Sky News: “I’m confident we’re on track to do so, the numbers look good, but I’m going to wait until we get the formally published figures…I don’t want to jump the gun.
“It is the first milestone towards the wider plan of getting those 99 per cent most at risk of dying of Covid offered a vaccine by April.”
Months ahead
It comes as Boris Johnson confirmed last night that schools would likely reopen on 8 March, while one Downing Street source told The Sunday Telegraph that some outdoor picnics and gatherings would also be allowed from that date.
The source said people would be able to meet one person outside that is not in their household without exercising, while whole households will be able to have gatherings outside.
Media reports over the past few days have also speculated that hospitality will reopen for outdoor dining and drinking from 1 April.
Johnson said the number of new Covid-19 cases remained very high, but was “perhaps starting to come down quite fast”.
“I do think that in due time, it will become something that we simply live with some people will be more vulnerable than others that’s inevitable,” he said.