All over-50s vaccinated by March 8 in nine areas leading the way

SOME areas will vaccinate all their over50s by March 8, an analysis by The Sunday Telegraph has shown, nearly a month ahead of schedule.

Projections suggest nine healthcare partnerships covering 9.9million people will have given enough first doses for all over-50s before March 8 – the date pencilled in when schools are expected to reopen. Previous targets to offer a first vaccine to over-50s, covering the top nine priority groups, by May and to all adults by autumn.

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said: “In England we have now vaccinated over 14 million of those most vulnerable with their first dose.”

Downing Street says all adults will be offered a second dose within 12 weeks of their first, with almost 600,000 second doses already administered. Sir Simon Stevens, the NHS chief executive, said: “Across England overall nearly a third of adults have now had their first jab and early signs suggest this is contributing to the welcome fall in coronavirus hospitalisation that we’re now seeing.”

Telegraph analysis of the latest data suggests some areas may be able to complete the final five priority groups, which includes those in their 50s and 60s, over a month ahead of schedule.

Gloucestershire has already administered first doses to 97 per cent of its 100,525 over-70s and 18 per cent of the 360,845 under-70s as of Feb 14, NHS England data show.

Keeping up its most recent pace of 37,261 doses a week would mean the county would hit 170,333 first doses for under-70s by March 7, equivalent to its entire 50 to 69 population. Also set to administer a similar level of first doses by March 7 are partnerships covering Devon, Bristol Cornwall, Suffolk, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and West Yorkshire, which as of Feb 14 have all vaccinated at least 94 per cent of their over-70s and 14 per cent of under-70s.A lack of granular data at a local level prevents precise assessment of when areas will have fully completed the top nine priority groups, and some partnerships may face a bigger backlog of doses than the statistics suggest.

NHS England does not publish local healthcare partnership totals for the number of care home staff, health and social care workers and the clinically extremely vulnerable, and the true scale of those in these groups still awaiting a first dose in some areas is unknown.