Covid-19: Record day for UK vaccinations as total nears 9m
Published
media captionProf Susan Hopkins: We have to relax things really quite slowly
A record 598,389 people were given their first coronavirus vaccination in one day across the UK on Saturday, government figures show.
As of Saturday a total of 8,977,329 people had received a jab, and 491,053 of those have had a second dose.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was delighted , adding each vaccine brings us one step closer to normal .
However, a further 587 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test were reported on Sunday.
It takes the UK s total by that measure to 106,158, although the number of reported deaths tends to be lower over the weekend.
The coronavirus crisis in hospitals across the UK has stabilised and staff are no longer having to plan for extra capacity, an intensive care doctor has said.
But Professor Rupert Pearse from the Intensive Care Society said 2021 is going to be another very hard year and warned of the mental health impact on NHS staff.
There are currently nearly 35,000 people in hospitals in the UK and 3,832 patients on ventilators, according to the latest official figures.
The second wave has seen bigger numbers of coronavirus patients in hospitals, with 21,684 patients during the peak of the first wave of the pandemic last April.