Around 60,000 coronavirus deaths and 22 million infections have been prevented by the UK’s vaccination programme, according to new official figures from Public Health England (PHE).
And PHE estimated that some 95.5 per cent of the adult population now have antibodies to Covid-19 from either infection or vaccination, raising hopes that the country may be moving towards “herd immunity”.
Deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam called the programme a “truly massive” success. But he issued a warning that the pandemic is not yet over, dismissing the recent claim of an unnamed senior minister that the Covid crisis was “all over bar the shouting”.
“I wish it were so,” said Prof Van-Tam. “This is not ‘all over bar the shouting’. I hope the worst is behind us, but I think it’s quite possible we will have one or two bumpy periods in the autumn and winter.”
Prof Van-Tam was speaking as daily positive cases rose for the second day in succession, reversing a week-long trend of falling numbers.
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A total of 31,117 coronavirus infections were reported on Thursday, up almost 3,500 on the previous day. Meanwhile, deaths continued on their upward trend, with 85 reported on Thursday, bringing the official total to 129,515, and the seven-day tally of 499 up almost 30 per cent on the previous week.
An additional 932 people were admitted to hospital, adding to the pressure on the NHS, which has a total of 5,056 hospital beds – and 765 mechanical ventilation beds – occupied by Covid patients in England alone.
It is thought that the recent dip in recorded cases from the peak of 54,674 on 17 July may reflect the passing of a wave of infections linked to gatherings to watch Euro 2020 football matches.
Government scientists believe that another upward spike caused by the removal of lockdown restrictions on 19 July may be about to show itself. Throughout the pandemic there has been a time-lag of around two weeks between infections and positive tests.
Meanwhile, the so-called “pingdemic” has showed no sign of abating, with a record 689,313 alerts sent to users of the NHS Covid-19 app in the week to 21 July, telling them to self-isolate for 10 days after coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.
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UK news in pictures 29 July 2021 Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin celebrates on the podium after she won silver in the women’s C1 Canoe Slalom at Tokyo Olympics
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UK news in pictures 28 July 2021 Canoers on Llyn Padarn lake in Snowdonia, Gwynedd. It was announced that the north-west Wales slate landscape has been granted UNESCO World Heritage Status
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UK news in pictures 27 July 2021 A view of one of two areas now being used at a warehouse facility in Dover, Kent, for boats used by people thought to be migrants.
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UK news in pictures 26 July 2021 A woman is helped by Border Force officers as a group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel, following a small boat incident in the Channel
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UK news in pictures 25 July 2021 Vehicles drive through deep water on a flooded road in Nine Elms, London
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UK news in pictures 24 July 2021 Utilities workers inspect a 15x20ft sinkhole on Green Lane, Liverpool, which is suspected to have been caused by ruptured water main
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UK news in pictures 23 July 2021 Children interact with Mega Please Draw Freely by artist Ei Arakawa inside the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern in London, part of UNIQLO Tate Play the gallery's new free programme of art-inspired activities for families
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UK news in pictures 22 July 2021 Festivalgoers in the campsite at the Latitude festival in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk
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UK news in pictures 21 July 2021 A man walks past an artwork by Will Blood on the end of a property in Bedminster, Bristol, as the 75 murals project reaches the halfway point and various graffiti pieces are sprayed onto walls and buildings across the city over the Summer
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UK news in pictures 20 July 2021 People during morning prayer during Eid ul-Adha, or Festival of Sacrifice, in Southall Park, Uxbridge, London
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UK news in pictures 19 July 2021 Commuters, some not wearing facemasks, at Westminster Underground station, at 08:38 in London after the final legal Coronavirus restrictions were lifted in England
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UK news in pictures 18 July 2021 A view of spectators by the 2nd green during day four of The Open at The Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent
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UK news in pictures 17 July 2021 Cyclists ride over the Hammersmith Bridge in London. The bridge was closed last year after cracks in it worsened during a heatwave
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UK news in pictures 16 July 2021 The sun rises behind the Sefton Park Palm House, in Sefton Park, Liverpool
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UK news in pictures 15 July 2021 Sir Nicholas Serota watches a short film about sea monsters as he opens a ￡7.6 million, 360 immersive dome at Devonport's Market Hall in Plymouth, which is the first of its type to be built in Europe
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UK news in pictures 14 July 2021 Heidi Street, playing a gothic character, looks at a brain suspended in glass at the world’s first attraction dedicated to the author of Frankenstein inside the ‘Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein’ experience, located in a Georgian terraced house in Bath, as it prepares to open to the public on 19 July
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UK news in pictures 13 July 2021 Rehearsals are held in a car park in Glasgow for a parade scene ahead of filming for what is thought to be the new Indiana Jones 5 movie starring Harrison Ford
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UK news in pictures 12 July 2021 A local resident puts love hearts and slogans on the plastic that covers offensive graffiti on the vandalised mural of Manchester United striker and England player Marcus Rashford on the wall of a cafe on Copson Street, Withington in Manchester
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UK news in pictures 11 July 2021 England's Bukayo Saka with manager Gareth Southgate after the match
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UK news in pictures 10 July 2021 Australia’s Ashleigh Barty holds the trophy after winning her final Wimbledon match against Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova
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UK news in pictures 9 July 2021 England 1966 World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst stands on top of a pod on the lastminute.com London Eye wearing a replica 1966 World Cup final kit and looking out towards Wembley Stadium in the north of the capital, where the England football team will play Italy in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday
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UK news in pictures 8 July 2021 Karolina Pliskova celebrates after defeating Aryna Sabalenka during the women's singles semifinals match on day ten of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London
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UK news in pictures 7 July 2021 The residents of Towfield Court in Feltham have transformed their estate with England flags for the Euro 2020 tournament
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UK news in pictures 6 July 2021 A couple are hit by a wave as they walk along the promenade in Dover, Kent, during strong winds
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UK news in pictures 5 July 2021 Alexander Zverev playing against Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth round of the Gentlemen's Singles on Court 1 on day seven of Wimbledon at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
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UK news in pictures 4 July 2021 Aaron Carty and the Beyoncé Experience perform on stage during UK Black Pride at The Roundhouse in London
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UK news in pictures 3 July 2021 England’s Jordan Henderson celebrates after scoring his first international goal, his side’s fourth against Ukraine during the Euro 2020 quarter final match at the Olympic stadium in Rome
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UK news in pictures 2 July 2021 Dan Evans serves against Sebastian Korda during their men’s singles third round match at Wimbledon
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UK news in pictures 1 July 2021 Prince William, left and Prince Harry unveil a statue they commissioned of their mother Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London
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UK news in pictures 30 June 2021 Dancers from the Billingham Festival and Balbir Singh Dance Company, during a preview for the The Two Fridas, UK Summer tour, presented by Billingham International Folklore Festival of World Dance in collaboration with Balbir Singh Dance Company, inspired by the life and times of female artists Frida Kahlo and Amrita Sher-Gil , which opens on July 10 at Ushaw Historic House, Chapel and Gardens in Durham
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UK news in pictures 29 June 2021 A boy kicks a soccer ball in front of the balconies and landings adorned with predominantly England flags at the Kirby housing estate in London
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UK news in pictures 28 June 2021 Emergency services attend a fire nearby the Elephant & Castle Rail Station in London
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UK news in pictures 27 June 2021 People walk along Regent Street in central London during a #FreedomToDance march organised by Save Our Scene, in protest against the government’s perceived disregard for the live music industry throughout the coronavirus pandemic
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UK news in pictures 26 June 2021 A pair of marchers in a Trans Pride rally share a smile in Soho
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UK news in pictures 25 June 2021 Tim Duckworth during the Long Jump in the decathlon during day one of the Muller British Athletics Championships at Manchester Regional Arena
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UK news in pictures 24 June 2021 A member of staff poses with the work 'The Death of Cash' by XCopy at the 'CryptOGs: The Pioneers of NFT Art' auction at Bonhams auction house in London
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UK news in pictures 23 June 2021 Bank of England Chief Cashier Sarah John displays the new 50-pound banknote at Daunt Books in London
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UK news in pictures 22 June 2021 Actor Isaac Hampstead Wright sits on the newly unveiled Game of Throne's "Iron Throne" statue, in Leicester Square, in London, Tuesday, June 22, 2021. The statue is the tenth to join the trail and commemorates 10 years since the TV show first aired, as well as in anticipation for HBO's release of House of the Dragon set to be released in 2022
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UK news in pictures 21 June 2021 Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon receives her second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine
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UK news in pictures 20 June 2021 Joyce Paton, from Peterhead, on one of the remaining snow patches on Meall a’Bhuiridh in Glencoe during the Midsummer Ski. The event, organised by the Glencoe Mountain Resort, is held every year on the weekend closest to the Summer Solstice
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UK news in pictures 19 June 2021 England appeal LBW during day four of their Women’s International Test match against India at the Bristol County Ground
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UK news in pictures 18 June 2021 Scotland fans let off flares in Leicester Square after Scotland's Euro 2020 match against England ended in a 0-0 draw
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UK news in pictures 17 June 2021 Members of the Tootsie Rollers jazz band pose on the third day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meet
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UK news in pictures 16 June 2021 A woman and child examine life-size sculptures of a herd of Asian elephants set up by the Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective to help educate the public on the elephants and the ways in which humans can better protect the planets biodiversity, in Green Park, central London
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UK news in pictures 15 June 2021 Hydrotherapists with Dixie, a seven-year-old Dachshund who is being treated for back problems common with the breed, in the hydrotherapy pool during a facility at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home's in Battersea, London, to view their new hydrotherapy centre
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UK news in pictures 14 June 2021 Scotland's David Marshall in the net after Czech Republic's Patrik Schick scored their second goal at Hampden Park
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UK news in pictures 13 June 2021 Raheem Sterling celebrates with Harry Kane after scoring England’s first goal of the Euro 2021 tournament in a match against Croatia at Wembley
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UK news in pictures 12 June 2021 Oxfam campaigners wearing costumes depicting G7 leaders pose for photographers on Swanpool Beach near Falmouth, Cornwall
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UK news in pictures 11 June 2021 Members of the Vaxinol team, who are commercial, industrial and residential cleaners specialising in disinfection and decontamination, use electrostatic spray systems to deep clean the Only Fools Bar in Liverpool
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UK news in pictures 10 June 2021 A woman walks her dogs as the incoming tide begins to wash away the heads of G7 leaders drawn in the sand by activists on the beach at Newquay, Cornwall
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Downing Street said that 260 daily testing sites are now up and running, where key workers can get clearance to skip isolation in order to get on with their jobs. Hundreds more are due to come on stream in the coming days, as businesses clamour for help to cut the number of absent staff, but the full complement of 2,000 promised by Boris Johnson may not be in place until the end of August.
Communities secretary Robert Jenrick urged people to isolate if they are advised to do so, saying there “isn’t very long to go” until 16 August, when all fully vaccinated contacts who test negative can avoid isolation.
“I appreciate that it is a significant number of people, and it can be frustrating, but the app is doing what we asked of it,” he said.
But new figures from the Office for National Statistics suggest that one in four young adults who test positive are not following guidance to self-isolate for 10 days.
Answering questions from the public on the BBC, Prof Van-Tam said nobody knew if there would be a full fourth wave of Covid in the UK, but added that as summer ended things would get tougher.
Not only would colder temperatures and more indoor gatherings create better conditions for the coronavirus to spread, but it would also allow the resurgence of other respiratory viruses which normally flare up during the winter, he said.
As a result, it is just as important for people to get their flu jabs as well as any booster Covid vaccinations in the autumn and winter, he added.
Earlier this month, the Joint Council on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) issued interim advice to the NHS to begin preparations for a Covid vaccine booster programme from September for over-50s as well as all adults who would normally qualify for the flu jab.
Some 215,214 Covid vaccinations were reported on Thursday, made up of 43,873 first jabs and 171,341 second doses. The total number of people who have received two doses stood at 37,782,252 (71.4 per cent of the adult population) and one dose at 46,733,115 (88.4 per cent).
PHE’s Covid-19 vaccine surveillance report estimates that the programme of jabs has directly averted more than 52,600 hospitalisations as well as preventing between 21.3 and 22.9 million infections and between 57,500 and 62,700 deaths. The previous estimate on 7 July put the number of infections prevented at 11 million and the number of deaths avoided at 37,000.
Health secretary Sajid Javid said the figures were “fantastic to see”.
“That’s hundreds of thousands of people whose loved ones have been protected thanks to the vaccines’ remarkable protection,” said Mr Javid, who recently recovered from a mild Covid infection despite having received both jabs.
“Day by day, jab by jab, we are building a wall of defence which is protecting our nation against the threat of this virus. Make sure to get the jab if you haven’t already, and play your part in this historic effort.”
PHE consultant epidemiologist Dr Jamie Lopez Bernal urged everyone invited for a second jab to book their appointment.
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“These figures show the vaccine programme’s remarkable impact on saving lives and reducing the spread of the virus,” he said.
“As cases have increased, the true scale of protection from the vaccine programme has become clear. Everyone that has come forward for their vaccine has played a part in this vital effort.”