More than 137,000 people in the UK have received the first dose
of the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the first week of the
largest vaccination programme in British history.
The Government has today released provisional figures which show
at least 137,897 people received their first dose of the vaccine
by the end of Tuesday 15 December. 108,000 people were vaccinated
in England.
The figures are provisional and subject to change. Formal
statistics will be published every week from next week.
The majority of the vaccines have been administered to the
over-80s, care home workers and NHS staff through more than 70
sites across the UK.
GP-led centres started vaccinating patients this week in England
and the roll out will expand to care homes soon.
Over the coming weeks and months, the rate of vaccinations will
increase as more doses become available and the programme
continues to expand.
Health and Social Care Secretary said:
“Thanks to the hard work of the NHS across the UK, over 137,000
people have already received the first dose of the coronavirus
vaccine.
“This is just the start and we will steadily expand our
vaccination programme - ultimately helping everyone get back to
normal life.”
The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is the first vaccine to be authorised
for use by the medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare
products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Patients require two doses of
the vaccine - 21 days apart – for the vaccine to be fully
effective.
Thanks to the work of the Government’s Vaccines Taskforce, 40
million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine have been secured
for the whole of the UK.
Rolling reviews on the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines
are underway and, if authorised by the MHRA, will mean there are
more doses available to vaccinate those most in need.
Notes to Editors
- All vaccinations in England are recorded between 8 December
and 15 December and represent the first doses only.
- The data for England is drawn from two sources depending on
the vaccination site:
-
- For hospital sites the data is reported from the National
Immunisation Management Service, which is the system of
record for the NHS vaccination programme.
- For local vaccination services this is an initial data
extract from the Pinnacle system, which is being used by GPs
to record Covid-19 vaccination events. This data will also be
aggregated into the National Immunisation Management Service.
- A formal Covid-19 vaccine uptake publication will be
published from next week.
