2.4 million coronavirus jabs have been administered across the UK, the prime minister has said.
“As I speak to you today, we’ve done about two million people, maybe a bit more, about 2.4 million jabs all in, I think, across the whole of the UK,” Boris Johnson said as he visited a vaccination centre in Bristol on Monday.
He added the NHS would be “ramping that up massively” in a bid to reach the government’s target of offering a first dose of a COVID vaccine to 15 million of the most vulnerable by 15 February.
Downing Street earlier revealed the prime minister’s father, Stanley Johnson, appears to be among the early wave of people to get two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine before a change in policy.
Now, people have to wait longer for their second dose, as the government aims to get a first dose into as many people as possible, as quickly as possible.
The prime minister’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said: “It’s not something I’ve spoken to Stanley Johnson about, but way of explanation in the early days of the vaccination programme it was the case that GPs were doing two jabs, a first one followed a few weeks later by a second one.
“It appears that Stanley Johnson was one of those people who was in that first wave.
“It’s been true of a number of individuals around the country and Stanley Johnson appears to be one of them.”
Downing Street also said the government would continue to keep England’s lockdown measures under review.
Asked whether ministers were planning to bring in even tighter restrictions, a Number 10 spokesman said: “As you would expect and as we have done throughout pandemic, we look through the latest data and statistical information.
“We continue to look at that data and to monitor it and keep our measures under review.”