Every adult in Britain could get their first Covid jab ‘by early June’ after surge in vaccine supply

Every adult in Britain could receive their first Covid jab by early June – two full months ahead of the EU – after a surge in the supply of vaccines.

In yet another boost to the UK’s rapidly advancing vaccine roll-out, the Government is reportedly set to take stock of a ‘bumper supply’ of vaccines in the coming days.

It means the Government could now offer the jab to the over 40s as early as Easter, according to the Telegraph.

And, if the roll-out continues at an accelerated rate, all adults in the UK could get their first jab by June 10, according to the Times.

The updated target is a month before the Government’s original July goal and two months ahead of the EU – which is expected to reach the same point by August.

It comes after it was earlier this week revealed that up to 10 million extra vaccine doses could be available to the UK within days following a surge in supply.

And, last night, it was revealed that the number of people to receive their first Covid jab topped 23million – bringing Britain a step closer to a return to normality.

The accelerated roll-out is set to begin with a drive to quickly work through to the next priority group – the over-50s – after attempting to vaccinate the remaining under-65s with underlying conditions.

All of those aged 50 and above are now expected to be offered a jab over the next week – three weeks ahead of the Government’s initial target.

According to the Telegraph, it comes as stocks of Covid vaccines are set to more than double.

And it means the over 40s can now be bought forward, with everyone in the group now set to be offered a jab by April 4, the paper adds.

Vaccination centres have already been instructed to recruit more staff to keep up with the jab supply surge, the paper reports.

Meanwhile, the Times says the UK’s roll-out is set to be boosted by the arrival of jabs from Moderna, Janssen and Novavax.

The UK has ordered 17million Moderna jabs, 30million Janssen jabs and 60million Novavax jabs – all of which are over 80 per cent effective at preventing hospitalisation.

So far, the vaccine roll-out has relied on the Oxford University-researched AstraZeneca jab, of which the Government has ordered 100million doses, and the Pfizer-Biontech jab, of which it has ordered 40million.

Research firm Infinity says the influx of new jabs means the UK could have every adult vaccinated by June 10, according to the Times.

The firm estimates that the EU will reach the same milestone by the end of August – giving the UK a head start in terms of its economic recovery.

The quicker restart could be worth tens of billions of pounds to the UK, which had opted out of the EU’s joint vaccine procurement scheme due to Brexit. 

Airfinity’s chief executive Rasmus Hansen said the EU’s struggles were due to the bloc viewing vaccination ‘as a pure procurement challenge’, compared to the British and American focus on production, research and development. 

Meanwhile, the EU’s vaccination programme continues to struggle, with more than three million of the most-at-risk Germans – such as those over 80 – still yet to receive their first Covid jab.

Britain’s flying start to its vaccine roll-out was last month hit by a dip, with ministers blaming suppliers for a drop in stock.

But Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford earlier this week alleviated fears of over a ‘dip’ in the vaccination.

He told the i newspaper that the dip was now over ahead of the UK entering what he described as a ‘crucial stage’ of its jab rollout.

Mr Drakeford said: ‘We are confident that we are past the couple of weeks where there was a dip in supply and we will be getting significantly greater volumes during the month of March.’

Last month the country’s highly-praised vaccination roll-out began to stall after getting off to a rapid start – which put the UK far ahead of its European neighbours.

Just 192,000 people were vaccinated on Monday, February 23 and 142,000 the day before, in two of the lowest daily tolls since the mammoth operation began to gather steam at the start of the year.

Ministers have repeatedly blamed the ‘lumpy’ supply of vaccines as being the ‘rate-limiting factor’ of the programme.

Officials say shrinking deliveries were expected because Pfizer had to improve its key factory in Belgium at the start of the year, and AstraZeneca’s production was slower to get off the ground than planned.

However, both drug giants have insisted that there are no unforeseen issues with the supply chain.  

Meanwhile, Britain’s coronavirus cases last night began to rise again, because of a huge schools testing campaign.

However all other measures pointed to the outbreak continuing to die out with deaths down on last week and the R rate sinking to its lowest ever level.

Another 6,609 cases and 175 more deaths were announced by the Department of Health.

The case count is a small rise on last Friday (11 per cent), driven up by a huge spike in the number of tests being done as schools reopened, with a record 1.6million carried out yesterday.

But deaths have continued to come down, with a 26 per cent week-on-week drop. 

No10’s scientific advisory panel SAGE estimated the reproduction rate — the average number of people infected by each person with coronavirus — is between 0.6 and 0.8 across the UK and England, meaning the outbreak is still shrinking. 

Office for National Statistics experts claimed today that the total number of people infected with Covid in England fell by a fifth to just over 200,000 last week — the equivalent of one in 270 people. 

And data from a major symptom-tracking app today claimed 4,200 people are becoming ill with the disease every day — down by a third in a week

 Professor Tim Spector, a King’s College London epidemiologist behind the study, said he believes the ‘darkest days are behind us’.

But the rate at which the outbreak is shrinking in England has slowed down even though total cases and daily new cases have fallen to levels not seen since September.

For comparison, outbreaks in Scotland and Northern Ireland appear to have stagnated and may have risen slightly, according to the ONS. 

Nicola Sturgeon today eased lockdown restrictions in Scotland to allow four adults from two households to meet outside, despite figures suggesting a rise in cases. 

The First Minister has insisted she will be led by data not dates, but has still sped up her plans to relax measures in the face of a stagnating outbreak.

Boris Johnson, on the other hand, has refused to accelerate England’s calendar for easing measures despite Covid cases continuing to fall.

The figure’s will pile even more pressure on No10 to relax lockdown quicker in England, amid mounting Tory fury at the Prime Minister’s reluctance to move quicker.

He has also promised to be led by ‘data not dates’ in his roadmap back to normality. 

Wales will make the same step from tomorrow, with First Minister Mark Drakeford set to announce later today that the ‘stay at home’ order will be dropped in favour of a ‘stay local’ message. Hairdressers will also be permitted to reopen from Monday.

Vaccination – the key to lifting lockdown rules – is still moving slower than it did at the start of February, with 260,809 people immunised for the first time yesterday along with 93,563 second doses.   

A total of 23.3million people have now been vaccinated across the UK. 

But despite cases continuing to drop and the vaccine drive running smoothly in England, current rules mean only two people from two households can meet outside, with groups of six from two homes not permitted to gather until March 29.