UK vaccinates almost 600,000 people in single day for first time

T he UK has vaccinated nearly 600,000 people in a single day for the first time since the start of the jab rollout.

A further 598,389 received the first dose of the vaccine on Saturday - the highest number yet.

However, only 10,621 people received the second dose of the vaccine.

In total 8,977,329 people have received the first dose of the vaccine, while only 491,053 have received both doses.

It came as the UK recorded another 587 deaths from the virus on Sunday, along with 21,088 more cases.

Meanwhile, ministers have been warned lockdown restrictions have to be relaxed “very slowly, very cautiously” after scientists said vaccines must prove to be highly effective at preventing transmission to avoid a future spike in deaths.

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Public Health England’s coronavirus strategy chief Dr Susan Hopkins said on Sunday measures must be eased slowly so “we can clamp down quite fast” if an increase of cases is seen.

Her comments came as preliminary research from scientists advising the Government suggested a “huge surge in deaths” will only be avoided as restrictions are eased if vaccines have a high uptake and are highly effective at blocking infection and, therefore, transmission.

Academics on the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M) said deaths are only “substantially reduced” under a gradual relaxation scenario if vaccines are able to prevent 85% of infections in vaccinated individuals, rather than just reduce the severity of disease.

Dr Hopkins told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “We have learnt, as we did on the first occasion, we have to relax things really quite slowly, so that if cases start to increase we can clamp down quite fast.

“Any releases that we have will have to happen very slowly, very cautiously, watching and waiting as we go, with a two-week period to watch and see the impact of that relaxation because it takes that to see what’s happening in the population.”