London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Aug 16, 2026

Covid: More than 10m people fully vaccinated in UK

Covid: More than 10m people fully vaccinated in UK

More than 10 million people in the UK have received a second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to the latest government figures.

It means more than 19% of UK adults are now fully vaccinated, while nearly 33 million people have had their first dose.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the news as a "remarkable milestone".

Also hailing the "terrific milestone", the health secretary urged people to get the jab "as soon as possible".

"Second doses are crucial to maximising the strength and duration of your protection from Covid-19," he added.

Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: "The success of the NHS vaccination programme is not a happy accident. It is down to careful planning coupled with the sheer hard work and determination of doctors, nurses and countless other staff ably assisted by volunteers and many others."

It comes as the UK recorded four deaths within 28 days of a positive test - the lowest daily figure since 7 September, although the number of deaths recorded on Mondays and over the weekend tend to be lower because of reporting delays.

There were also 2,963 new cases, according to the latest government figures.

Mr Hancock told the Commons the government was "on track" to offer a first dose to all adults in the UK by the end of July and uptake had been "astonishingly high", at 94% for over-50s.

However, he said the vaccination rate for care home staff was currently below 80% in more than half of all local authority areas. As a result, he said, the government had launched a consultation into whether care home providers for older adults should only deploy workers who have received their Covid jab, unless they have a medical exemption.

People aged 45 and over are now being offered the vaccine in England and Scotland. In some areas of Wales 40-49 year-olds are being invited, while in Northern Ireland vaccine appointments are now being made available to a limited number of 35-39 year olds.

The rollout will continue to prioritise groups by age, according to advice from the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).


The 10 million mark for second doses is a great milestone.

But the rapid acceleration in second doses has come at a cost to first doses - and this spells trouble for the government's ambition to offer every adult in the UK a jab by the end of July.

Currently the UK is doing just over 100,000 first doses a day on average, that is down from 500,000 a month ago.

There was always going to be some drop-off. But on that trajectory just over half of under-50s will get a first dose by the end of July.

Take-up is predicted to be lower in the younger age groups than it has been in the older ones so that shortfall may not be as bad as it first looks.

What is more, there is the hope vaccine supplies will increase. More doses of Moderna may become available, while there is hope the Novavax jab, which is being made in the UK, could come into play in May.

Nonetheless, it is another reminder that the vaccine programme still has many hurdles to cross.


It comes after the government said all over-50s and those in high-risk groups in the UK had been offered a first dose.

Earlier this month the UK began to roll out the Moderna vaccine, alongside the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech jabs.

All under-30s in the UK will be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca jab due to evidence linking it to rare blood clots.


Meanwhile, Mr Hancock announced that India would be added to the travel red list from 04:00 BST on Friday. It means anybody who is not a UK or Irish resident or British citizen cannot enter the UK if they have been in India in the last 10 days and any other arrivals will need to quarantine in a hotel for 10 days.

Earlier, the prime minister cancelled a trip to India, which had been due to take place on 26 April, amid rising cases there.

Health officials in the UK are investigating whether a variant first found in India spreads more easily or is resistant to treatments or vaccines.

Mr Hancock said there had now been 103 cases of this variant detected in the UK, with the vast majority linked to international travel.

He said there had also been 557 cases of the variant first found in South Africa detected in the UK since December.

The health secretary said the government was "ramping up" plans for a booster shot to ensure vaccines stayed "ahead of the virus".

"We will be working with our current vaccine suppliers and new suppliers, like the CureVac partnership, to work out which vaccines will be effective as a booster shot and to design new vaccines specifically targeted at the variants of concern," he added.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham Takes Regional Tour to Highlight Local Infrastructure and Environmental Problems
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
Bank of England Warns Rising Inflation Could Squeeze UK Household Incomes
UK Government Announces £65 Million Aid Package for Farmers Hit by Severe Drought
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Despite Energy Market Pressures
UK Issues Emergency Alert as Severe Wildfires Spread Across England and Wales
UK and Finland Discuss European Defence and Continued Support for Ukraine
Nigel Farage Wins Clacton By-Election to Return to the House of Commons
UK Government Deploys Military to Help Fight Wildfires and Bans Disposable Barbecues
UK Records Hottest Day of the Year as Fifth Summer Heatwave Peaks in Southern England
UK Condemns Houthi Actions and Warns of Red Sea Threat to Global Trade
UK and Solomon Islands Open Wildlife Photography Exhibition in Honiara
UK Small Businesses Face Continued Cash Flow and Tax Pressures
Greatham Marsh Restoration Restores Tidal Wetland in Hartlepool After More Than 200 Years
UK Health Regulator Urges University Students to Check Meningitis and Measles Vaccination Status
Mining Remediation Authority Completes Major Ground Stabilization Works in Scottish Community
UK Food Crime Investigators Seize 33 Tonnes of Illegal Food in Multi-Agency Operation
Technical Qualification Uptake Hits Record High as Advanced Mathematics Results Improve
UK Summer Temperatures on Course to Challenge Long-Standing Records, Met Office Says
UK Farmers Bring Forward Cereal Harvests as Drought Threatens Yields
Wildfires Surge Across England and Wales as Fire Chiefs Report Record July
UK Nurses Warn of Heat Risks as Hospital Staff Struggle With Extreme Temperatures
Southern Water Seeks Drought Order for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Amid Water Shortages
UK Heatwave Pushes West London Temperature to 38.1 Degrees as Health Alerts Continue
UK Economy Grows 0.4% in Second Quarter Despite Global Uncertainty
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
UK Residents Gather to Watch Rare Partial Solar Eclipse
Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice Faces Criticism Over Legal Threat Against Guardian Journalist
Michael Forsyth Elected Speaker of the House of Lords
Cambridge Researchers Launch £20 Million Human Organoid Drug Testing Programme
Heathrow Loses European Passenger Traffic Lead to Istanbul Airport
Households Near New UK Electricity Pylons to Receive £250 Annual Energy Bill Discount
×