In an attempt at honouring the anticipated phase four of the roadmap out of lockdown, the much awaited 'freedom day'—which has been set to take place on 21 June—will be that much more feasible now that those over 30 can book their COVID vaccine starting today.
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23 million fully inoculated
With the Indian variant making waves in the UK, the government's target of having all adults receive their first dose of the jab by the end of July has now become crucial in order to avoid backtracking outbreaks to compromise the end of lockdown.
At this point, nearly three quarters—or 38 million specifically—of all adults in the UK have received their first coronavirus jab with almost half of all adults having been fully inoculated. The average jabs being administered at the moment is of 580,000 per day with the rate having risen consistently since the start of May. At its height, the UK saw 600,000 vaccine doses being given out daily towards the end of March.
'Moving at such a phenomenal pace'
As of yesterday, 2,493 new COVID cases were recorded and only 15 deaths, proportionately lower than a significant majority of the rest of Europe at the moment. Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, expressed his optimism in regards to the speed of the rollout program by saying that:
Our vaccination programme is moving at such a phenomenal pace and I am delighted that less than six months after Margaret Keenan received the first authorised jab in the world, we are now able to open the offer to everyone in their thirties and over.
Adding that:
The vaccine is our way out of this pandemic and recent data has shown the life-saving protection [that] a second dose of the jab can give, especially against the new variant. I urge everyone to come forward when you get the offer and play a part in getting us back to normality.
