More Brits have now been vaccinated against Covid than have tested positive for bug since pandemic outbreak

MORE Brits have now had at least one coronavirus vaccination than have tested positive for the bug since the start of the pandemic.

A total of 3,514,385 people had been vaccinated in England as of Friday – compared with the 3,357,361 people who are known to have caught the virus.

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A whopping 324,000 jabs were given yesterday – the highest number in a 24 hour period so far.

And the figures set Britain well on the way to achieving its jab target of 13.9 million Brits in the top four priority groups vaccinated by February 15.

Overall, 3,514,385 Covid-19 vaccinations had taken place in England between December 8 and January 15, according to data from NHS England.

Of those, 3,090,058 were the first dose of the vaccine, while 424,327 were the second dose.

It comes as infections began to fall slightly this week, with the total number of cases recorded in the seven days up to January 16 down 18 per cent on the week before.

However the figures remain high, with 41,346 more infections and 1,295 deaths logged today.

It comes as…

• Sage doc warns of longer UK lockdown & removing restrictions in February would be a ‘disaster’ even with vaccine rollout
• Tesco worker dies after supermarket outbreak leaves ’50 employees struck down with Covid’
• Doctors ‘forced by NHS leaders to throw away Covid vaccines rather than giving second doses’
• Desperate Brits scramble to get some of the last flights back to UK before travel corridors axed
• UK coronavirus deaths rise by 1,295 with fatalities over 1,000 for 5th day in a row and 41,346 more cases

Ten further mass vaccination centres are due to open in England this week with more than a million over-80s invited to receive their coronavirus jab.

Blackburn Cathedral, St Helens rugby ground, Norwich Food Court and a park-and-ride outside York are among the new locations where large-scale vaccination will take place from Monday.

NHS England said they joined the seven existing mass vaccination sites across the country, alongside a thousand GP-led surgeries and more than 250 hospitals already providing jabs.

It comes as the Government backed The Sun's Jabs Army campaign and urged the public to "play their part" in supporting "the largest vaccination programme in British history".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock urged people to commit to three pledges to "help out", "join up" and "stay informed" during ongoing efforts to vaccinate, run clinical trials and share accurate health advice.

People aged 80 or over, who live up to a 45-minute drive from a centre, are being offered the choice of arranging a jab at one of the 17, or at a pharmacy site through the national booking service.

And anyone not wanting to travel can wait to be contacted by their GP-led vaccination service or hospital.

Some 641,000 invitations were sent out to last week and another 380,000 were due to land on people's doormats this weekend.

Another half a million letters will go out this week, NHS England said.

JABS ARMY

They added that the new centres would be able to administer "thousands" of jabs a week, scaling operations up and down according to vaccine supplies.

It will also mean at least one centre is located in each health region and ensures that rural parts of the country like Boston in Lincolnshire and Norwich are within reach of one.

Today, Covid-busters were seen getting their jabs in Salisbury Cathedral, Wilts.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), around 45% of those aged 80 and over have been vaccinated.

The department said Brits can "help out" by supporting family and friends attend vaccine appointments or becoming an NHS volunteer responder, and "join up" to Covid-19 treatment clinical trials.

Mr Hancock said: "Throughout this pandemic, I have been in awe of how much the British public has contributed to the fight against the virus. I want to thank everyone for the time, effort and patience they have put in to keep themselves and others safe.

"We recognise that so many people want to support our NHS so health and care workers can continue to save lives, and now is your chance to get involved by helping the remaining people aged 80 and over get their jabs.

"I urge everyone, no matter who you are, what you do or where you're from, to come forward and take on our three pledges.

"Everyone has a part to play in this national effort – to protect our NHS, our loved ones and other people's loved ones too."

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