COVID-19: 14m receive first vaccine dose as confirmed cases passes 4m mark
Written by News on 13/02/2021
The number of people to have had their first coronavirus vaccine jab in the UK has passed 14 million, as the total confirmed number of cases exceeds four million.
The latest government figures also showed there were a further 758 deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period, up from the 678 fatalities confirmed on Thursday.
In that same period, 503,116 more people have had a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
The government has set a target of giving a first jab to 15 million people in four key groups by 15 February
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Since the pandemic began a year ago, a total of 116,287 people have now died in the UK within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test, with 4,013,799 confirmed cases.
A further 15,144 infections were also confirmed on Friday, compared to the 13,494 cases reported yesterday.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where COVID-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate – together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days – show there have now been 134,000 coronavirus-related deaths.
The news comes on the day it was announced the UK’s R number had fallen below 1 for the first time since last July.
New data also shows there has been a drop in infections, with about one in 80 people in private households in England having COVID-19 between 31 January and 6 February.
This is down from around one in 65 the previous week, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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And while the numbers are currently moving in the right direction, one senior health official told Sky News she believed restrictions should remain in place until all adults are vaccinated.
Dr Susan Hopkins told Sky News some measures may have to stay in place beyond that too – until more is known about COVID-19 transmission.
(c) Sky News 2021: COVID-19: 14m receive first vaccine dose as confirmed cases passes 4m mark
