COVID-19: More than half of over-80s have received vaccine as 140 jabs given a minute

Watch: More than half of over-80s have received vaccine as 140 jabs given a minute

More than half of over-80s have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, as the government has revealed that 140 jabs are being given out a minute.

Sharing the news on Twitter, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: "I'm delighted that over half of all over-80s have been vaccinated.

"Each jab brings us one step closer to normal."

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson confirmed that COVID-19 vaccinations are being given out at a rate of 140 per minute, describing the feat as "incredible".

Earlier, another government minister pledged that every adult in the UK will be offered a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine by September.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab told Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "Our target is by September to have offered all the adult population a first dose. If we can do it faster than that, great, but that's the roadmap."

There are hopes to give 88% of those most at risk of dying from coronavirus their first jab by the middle of February, and 99% of this group by early spring.

More than 3.5 million people in the UK have now received their first dose, with around 324,000 jabs administered in the space of 24 hours.

:: Subscribe to Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

Leading epidemiologist Professor Azra Ghani told Sky News that vaccinating the most vulnerable will be key to loosening restrictions.

"Really, we want to get back to the situation we were in the summer with relatively low case numbers compared to now, so that we can actually test and trace and reduce onward infections," she said.

"At the same time we're, of course, rolling out a vaccine, that's something we haven't had up until now and that vaccine rollout is going very well...

"We'll need to get a balance of these two things in place before we can start to lift restrictions and it's very difficult to say exactly when that will be."

To help speed up the vaccine roll-out, 10 new vaccination centres are set to open in England on Monday.

There are currently seven mass vaccination sites across the country, as well as 1,000 GP-led surgeries and more than 250 hospitals providing jabs.