Revealed: Thousands of double vaccinated over 70s have died in the last 4 weeks

More than 2,000 fully vaccinated over 70s have died from COVID-19 in the past month in England, new data shows.

A report by the UK Health Security Agency showed 2,032 fully vaccinated over 70s have died within 28 days of positive COVID test in the last four weeks.

In total, 2,447 double-jabbed people died in the period covered by the report, compared to 538 unvaccinated people.

The disparity between the two numbers is due to most people being fully vaccinated, with more than 95% of the people at risk of COVID having had both jabs.

The data shows the death rate was far high among those who did not have a jab when looked at proportionately.

Watch: COVID-19: Professor Jonathan Van-Tam warns of 'potentially problematic' Christmas and 'hard months to come'

Read more: Molnupiravir: Who can take the new COVID pill and how effective is it?

In the over 80s the death rate among double jabbed people was 53 per 100,000 people compared to 125 per 100,000 for the over 80s who have not had their vaccine.

In the 70-79 age group the death rate for the double jabbed was 14 per 100,000 compared to 47 per 100,000 for those who have not had their vaccine.

Dr Christina Pagel said the thousands of deaths in the elderly was down to uncontrolled transmission.

She said: "This is the consequence of allowing high transmission rates to continue in your population, and while we are boosting the over 50s - which will be very effective - we should be keeping cases down as much as possible."

The figures come amid concern the booster rollout is not being implemented fast enough, with the oncoming winter sparking warnings from health professionals.

Labour has called on the government to set a target of administering 500,000 Covid booster jabs a day.

Read more: COVID 'starting to penetrate the elderly' as death rates increase, warns Van-Tam

Shadow health minister Rosena Allin-Khan warned the government needs to “turbocharge” the vaccine booster programme for the elderly and vulnerable to complete it before spring next year.

The shadow minister also spoke of problems with the vaccine rollout, saying: “Local residents are contacting us saying they can’t get the boosters they so desperately need.

“One lady in her 70s who has underlying health conditions went to her pharmacy and called 119 just to be told she wasn’t eligible for a booster. She has now finally got one booked for December but had to rely on her daughter to book the appointment for her because she doesn’t use the internet. The system simply isn’t working.”

The call came as vaccines minister Maggie Throup told the Commons more than 650,000 12 to 15-year-olds have had a first Covid jab, and eight million people have been given a booster across the UK.

Despite concerns about the booster rollout, the UK approved the world's first COVID antiviral that can be taken at home on Thursday, introducing a powerful drug to the fight against the coronavirus.

Molnupiravir has been designed for people who have had a positive COVID test and are at risk from the disease.

Results from a study by the US firm that made the drug, Merck, showed the drug reduced hospitalisations and deaths in a population of patients at risk of more severe outcomes by around 50% (from 14.1% to 7.3%).

No patient who took the drug died from the virus on the trial.

The Government announced last month that it had secured 480,000 courses of the drug which will be called Lagevrio in the UK.

Watch: Do coronavirus vaccines affect fertility?