More than half of the UK population has now received at least a first dose of vaccine against Covid-19. By Friday evening 33,388,637 people had received one of the Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Moderna vaccines. Here’s how it was done, and what is still left to do.
97
Number of days left to offer the vaccine to all adults
The government has pledged to offer a first dose to all adults by 31 July. Will it reach its target? It has met both the targets it set so far and it took 136 days to vaccinate half the whole population, just under 64% of adults. But the rate of first doses has slowed substantially since mid-March.
500,934
Vaccinations a day, by seven-day rolling average
The availability of vaccines has fluctuated since the rollout began on 8 December 2020. The programme had its most successful day on 20 March, delivering 844,285 jabs. That dipped to 95,763 on 4 April because of a problem with a UK-made batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine and a suspension of some deliveries from India. Supplies have picked up again since.
168
People who have experienced major blood clots following a dose of the AstraZeneca jab
Vaccine hesitancy has been fuelled by publicity around blood clots, and last week the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) announced the number of UK cases to have arisen from the 21.2 million first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. It happens at a rate of 7.9 clots per million doses – far lower than the one in 1,000 women each year who take birth control pills and experience a blood clot.
86%
The proportion of vaccine-hesitant people who have changed their minds
Although significant numbers of people remain unwilling to take a first dose, researchers at University College London have found that a substantial proportion have changed their minds after initial doubts.
64.1%
The proportion of women over 16 who have received a vaccine
Women have been faster to sign up for vaccinations than men, of whom only 56.6% have so far had a first dose. In the 45-49 age group, which became eligible for a first dose on 13 April, so far 1,188,015 women have received a jab compared with 1,012,086 men.
This content first appear on the guardian