2.4 million coronavirus jabs have been administered across the UK, the prime minister has said.
Speaking from a vaccination centre in Bristol, Boris Johnson said: “Today, I think I can confirm that we’ve done roughly 40% of the 80-year-olds in this country already.
Seven new mass vaccination sites in England have been opened today, joining hundreds more GP sites and a small number of new pharmacy-led centres opening this week.
Officials are racing to vaccinate as many people as possible while COVID-19 cases continue to rise and hospitals come under extreme pressure.
Mr Johnson continued: “As I speak to you today, we’ve done about two million people, maybe a bit more, about 2.4 million jabs all in, I think, across the whole of the UK.”
He added the NHS would be “ramping that up massively” in a bid to reach the government’s target of offering the first dose of a COVID vaccine to 15 million of the most vulnerable people by 15 February.