It's certainly welcome news that the Government’s Vaccines Delivery Plan – the biggest vaccination programme in British history – continues to set ambitious targets as the government continues to ramp up its vaccine rollout. Already in Mid Worcestershire, 32 per cent of the population have received a vaccine, equating to 33,674 people. Nationally, the vaccine programme is averaging more than 2.5 million doses a week, with new targets to offer the vaccine to everyone in the top nine priority groups by 15 April, and the rest of the adult population by the end of July.
I want to thank everyone for doing their bit and getting their vaccine. I also want to thank all the workers and organisers who have made it possible to get so many people vaccinated in such a short amount of time. This is a huge feat and a really big step to getting back to normal - something I know we're all ready for.
The United Kingdom is leading the way with its vaccination programme. So far, more than 18.6 million people have received a vaccine – equivalent to 1 in 3 adults. This is the third highest per capita, behind only the UAE and Israel. In addition, only two countries have administered more doses than the United Kingdom – China and the USA.
Everyone in the top four priority groups has now been offered a vaccine, as invites are now going out those in priority groups 5 to 9. The latest figures now show that two thirds of those aged 65 to 69 have now been vaccinated.
I also welcomed the Prime Minister’s roadmap to take cautious and irreversible steps out of lockdown, which will be guided by the data and not dates but gives us some optimism for this coming spring and summer.
