10m jabs but rates still ‘alarmingly high’

BORIS Johnson has said that coronavirus infection rates remain “alarmingly high”. The Prime Minister told a No 10 news conference: “Though today there are some signs of hope – the numbers of Covid patients in hospital are beginning to fall for the first time since the onset of this new wave – the level of infection is still alarmingly high.

“The wards of our NHS are under huge pressure with more than 32,000 Covid patients still in hospital.”

Earlier the Health Secretary hailed the news that 10 million people in the UK have now received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine as “hugely significant”. In England 9,126,930 Covid-19 vaccinations took place from December 8-February 2, according to NHS England data, including first and second doses – a rise of 301,559 on the previous figures. Of this, 8,663,041 were the first dose of the vaccine, a rise of 300,173 on the previous day, while 463,889 were the second dose, an increase of 1,386. The NHS England data shows 1,037,411 jabs have been given to people in the South West from December 8-February 2, including 981,771 first doses and 55,640 second doses.