Coronavirus vaccine in numbers: 12.5 million receive first dose

Government data up to February 9 shows 12,646,486 first doses of coronavirus vaccine have been given in the UK - a rise of 352,480 on the previous day.

Latest stories

  • Rishi Sunak plots tax raid on parcels and freelance workers

    Rishi Sunak is plotting a new tax on online deliveries next month and a raid on the self-employed later this year, The Telegraph can reveal. The Chancellor will use Wednesday's Budget to announce a £5 billion fund to help high street pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops that have remained closed as a result of the Covid lockdown. On March 23 – dubbed "tax day" in Whitehall – he will then unveil a series of consultations on further tax increases to start paying for the £300 billion cost of dealing with the virus crisis. The Telegraph has learnt that this will include options to tax online retail more heavily, including the possibility of a new green tax on every internet delivery, alongside other online tax ideas. However, it is understood that he has turned his back on a mooted windfall tax on the "excess profits" of internet companies. Mr Sunak is also planning to use a Budget in the autumn to increase National Insurance Contributions paid by Britain's 4.5 million self-employed, arguing that they too benefited from state support in the pandemic. A Treasury source said: "The idea of an online sales tax is being looked at as part of the business rates review. "Responses to the consultation are being considered in the round, but the Chancellor is cognisant of the need to level up the playing field between the high street and online taxation."

  • People flock to parks and beaches to enjoy sunshine despite COVID warning

    People across the country enjoyed temperatures of up to 15C on Saturday.

  • Germany urged to follow Britain’s vaccine strategy as regulators look set to approve AstraZeneca for over 65s

    German scientists have urged Berlin to speed up vaccinations by following the UK’s example in delaying the second dose as German regulators look set to make a U-turn by approving the AstraZeneca jab for over 65s. A team of pandemic researchers believe delaying the second dose of the BioNTech-Pfizer and Moderna vaccines beyond the current 28 days would speed up the process, provide greater protection for the population and result in “up to 10,000 or 15,000 fewer deaths” in Germany. The authors of the study, prepared by a team of pandemic researchers from Berlin’s Humbolt University and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, say delaying the second dose would also prevent vaccine mutations from continuing to gain traction. Berlin-based pandemic researcher Dirk Brockmann told Germany’s Deutsche Welle news service on Sunday that a change in strategy would boost the country’s lagging vaccination rollout. Delaying the second dose would double the speed of ongoing vaccinations as “you no longer just put the second dose back in the fridge and wait." “According to that data, there is complete protection against death from Covid in the risk groups after the first dose. That's a huge success,” said Prof Brockmann.

  • Gordon Ramsay criticised for commenting on woman's teeth during 'Saturday Night Takeaway' game

    The celebrity chef is under fire on Twitter after making a 'humiliating' remark about a woman's teeth.

  • Johnny Briggs death: Coronation Street star who played Mike Baldwin dies aged 85

    Actor’s most famous character, Mike Baldwin, enjoyed a years-long feud with Ken Barlow

  • Ted Cruz’s CPAC speech mocked on SNL: ‘I just flew back from Cancun, but can you blame a brother for wanting some sun?’

    Aidy Bryant reprised her role as the Texas senator

  • Budget 2021: Sunak’s £5bn plan to rescue high streets from collapse

    Budget 2021: Sunak’s £5bn plan to rescue high streets from collapse. Grants will be offered to stricken shops and pubs but NHS fears its pleas for cash will be ignored

  • Covid ‘likely to get worse again’ as new variants spread, Biden warns

    ‘The current improvement could reverse’, says president of rising infections

  • This is who the Drag Race season 13 queens would be as Super Smash Bros characters

    If the RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 queens were Smash Bros Ultimate characters, who would they be?

  • Court papers reveal reason for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West divorce

    Kim Kardashian West has cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason she is divorcing rapper Kanye West. The reality TV star filed divorce papers with an LA court that also confirmed she is seeking joint custody of their four children - North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, one. The businesswoman has enlisted the services of lawyer Laura Wasser, who earned the title “disso queen” thanks to her work sorting out the divorces of high-profile celebrities.

  • Johnny Briggs Honoured In Tributes From Coronation Street Co-Stars: 'We All Adored Him'

    Antony Cotton, Helen Worth and Sally Dynevor were among those who remembered working with the Mike Baldwin actor.

  • ‘I’ve had my vaccine - how well will it protect me and for how long?’

    ‘I’ve had my vaccine - how well will it protect me and for how long?’. The latest answers to the important medical questions about the vaccines and the pandemic

  • Trump has captured the Republican party – and that's great news for Biden

    Trump has captured the Republican party – and that's great news for Biden. The Trump party is only interested in appealing to its base. Democrats in Washington have the public square to themselves

  • Stunning full Snow Moon rises over sea in Kent, UK

    The stunning full Snow Moon us seen rising over the sea in Sheerness, Kent, in southeast England on Saturday evening (February 27).

  • Nearly two million people age 60 to 63 to be offered Covid vaccine

    Nearly two million people aged 60 to 63 in England are being invited to book a coronavirus jab as part of the continued expansion of the vaccine programme. NHS England said that the letters will start landing on doormats from Monday, explaining how people can make an appointment to get jabbed through the national booking service. They have been sent out after more than three in four people aged 65 to 70 took up the offer of a vaccination, it added. It comes as leaders from 60 of the UK's black majority churches joined forces on Sunday to show their support for the Covid-19 vaccine to their congregations. They will say they support the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine programme, and urge their congregations to seek out the facts about the vaccine from trusted sources. They will also say that they have either already been vaccinated or that they will get the vaccine when it is their turn. The alliance of Christian leaders, which includes Bishop of Dover the Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, said they felt compelled to act after data suggested black people are among those most likely to be hesitant about receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. Bishop Hudson-Wilkin said: "When you are offered the Covid vaccine, please take it. "This is our chance to show we care for ourselves and our neighbours. "Don't let misinformation rob you of your opportunity to protect yourself and others." This initiative has been organised by Christian umbrella organisations Churches Together in England, Evangelical Alliance and YourNeighbour.

  • Lady Gaga poised to hand over $500,000 reward to mystery woman after safe return of Bulldogs

    Lady Gaga is poised to hand over a $500,000 reward to a mystery woman who returned her beloved French bulldogs kidnapped in a violent street robbery near her home in Hollywood. Koji and Gustav, thought to be worth up to $10,000 dollars each, were given in at a downtown LAPD Police Station by an unnamed woman late on Friday night. Authorities believe the woman who handed the dogs in was "uninvolved and unassociated" with the attack - but she is still eligible for the "unconditional" $500,000 and is said to be in contact with Gaga’s representatives. “If you bought or found them unknowingly, the reward is the same,” Gaga had said in a post confirming the hefty sum before the dogs were handed back on Friday. The violent abduction on Wednesday saw the singer’s dog-walker and close friend Ryan Fischer shot in the chest. Gaga's third dog named Miss Asia escaped the attack and was later found by police. The singer, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, has kept silent since the dogs were handed into police. But her reward offer has raised eyebrows.

  • Clean break: the risk of catching Covid from surfaces overblown, experts say

    Clean break: the risk of catching Covid from surfaces overblown, experts say. Prioritising eye protection and face masks will prevent the spread of coronavirus more than disinfecting surfaces, research shows

  • Germany and France set to give Oxford jab to over 65s after condemning it

    Germany and France could approve the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines for over 65s just days after Angela Merkel said she was too old to take the jab. Thomas Mertens, the head of Germany’s vaccine committee, revealed it would "very soon" update its recommendation on the jab.

  • Revealed: Rishi Sunak’s £5bn lifeline to help the High Street recover from Covid

    Pubs, restaurants, shops and other businesses hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic will be boosted by a £5 billion grant scheme to help them reopen as the lockdown is eased. Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce the “restart grants” worth up to £6,000 per premises to help non-essential retailers reopen and trade safely at his Budget on Wednesday.

  • Oprah with Meghan and Harry: masterstroke or disaster?

    Oprah with Meghan and Harry: masterstroke or disaster? . The Sussexes are the latest in a line of celebrities to try to rebuild their image by talking to the chatshow queen