Apr 27th, 2021
10 mins
England
The UK Government released it’s vaccination programme in November 2020. The phase 2 priority groups were announced on the 13th April.
- More than 10 million people in the UK vaccinated with a second dose of a COVID-19 jab
- Almost 1 in 5 adults in the UK have now received both doses
- People urged to take up their second doses to maximise protection
Over 10 million people in the UK have received their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Health services across the UK have now administered a total of 43,084,487 million vaccines between 8 December and 18 April, including 32,932,448 million people with their first dose and 10,152,039 million with their second.
The milestone means over 19% of all UK adults have received both vaccines.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent expert advisory committee which advises the UK health departments on vaccination. In December 2020, JCVI advised the vaccination of 9 key priority groups against COVID-19, covering all adults aged 50 years and over, and younger adults with underlying health conditions that put them at specific risk from COVID-19. This part of the programme, termed phase 1, began rollout in the UK from 8 December 2020. Phase 1 aimed to reduce mortality from COVID-19, along with the protection of UK health and social care systems.
The programme has been a success in terms of delivery, with over 30 million people having received their first vaccine dose so far. The COVID-19 vaccines in use in the UK are highly effective and have been shown to substantially reduce the risk of infection and severe disease from COVID-19. It has been estimated by Public Health England (PHE) that over 10,000 deaths have been averted by the COVID-19 immunisation in the first 3 months of the programme.
Daily vaccination updates are available on the Government website
Northern Ireland
The COVID-19 vaccination programme is currently being delivered at Trust vaccination sites and GP practices. Some community pharmacies are also now offering COVID-19 vaccinations.
It is based on the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), an independent expert group. JCVI has recommended which groups should be prioritised to receive the vaccine.
The Department of Health has published a vaccination phased plan document on their website, outlining when different groups can expect to get the vaccine and how it will be deployed:
Scotland
NHS Scotland are following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice and are vaccinating those most at risk first, and those who work closest with them.
Vaccinations are taking place differently across Scotland to reflect the needs of local communities. Coronavirus vaccinations (jab, injection) may not take place at GP practices. NHS Scotland confirm local arrangements.
NHS Scotland will try and arrange for vaccination to be given at the nearest location to a resident’s home but this might not always be possible. More than 1100 vaccination venues are now operational throughout Scotland.
Those who have already been invited or are currently being invited to be vaccinated are:
- residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
- front line health and social care workers
- clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
- everyone aged 50 and over
- those aged 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
- all adults with a learning disability – mild, moderate, severe and profound
- unpaid carers aged 16 to 64
- household contacts of those who are severely immunosuppressed
- adults experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping
People aged 16 and 17 can receive the vaccine if they:
- are identified as clinically extremely vulnerable, or as having a specific underlying health condition
- are an unpaid carer
- are in health and social care JCVI Group 2, frontline health or social care worker
People aged 16 and 17 will normally be offered the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
People aged 18 to 49 will be invited to get their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine by the end of July, depending on vaccine supply.
Those aged 40 to 49 will be invited forward next, followed by 30 to 39 year olds and then 18-29 year olds.
Wales
On 11th January the Welsh Government published their National Vaccination Strategy for Wales. This is updated monthly. There are also more regular updates and the most recent update can be found here.
They have completed the first phase of the programme:
- all older person care home residents and staff
- frontline health and social care staff
- those 50 years of age and over
- the clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
- those with underlying health conditions with put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
Wales are now moving into phase 2 of the programme. Subject to supply, the aim is to offer the vaccine to all eligible adults in Wales by the end of July.
As they continue to operate on the principle of no one left behind, the NHS will go back and offer those in priority groups 1-9 who for various reason have not yet taken up their offer.
That means, now being vaccinated are:
- everyone aged 40 to 49
- household contacts of severely immunosuppressed
- anyone who, for whatever reason, was missed in priority groups 1-9, so that no one is left behind
There is a 50% gateway in place for moving from one cohort to the next, some health boards have already vaccinated over 50% of adults in their 40s in their area, so have now started inviting the 30-39 age group.
So far more than 1,699,000 people have received their first dose of the vaccine in Wales. The second dose programme is running substantively alongside our first dose programme and over 610,800 people have received their full course of vaccine. In total, more than 2.3 million vaccines have been administered.
