cough, less of loss of smell and really much less of shortness of breath problems. and with infections now rising steeply, accelerating the vaccine programme is seen as vital in protecting people from the serious consequences of a further wave of the virus. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. the latest official figures on the pandemic show that in the past 2a hours ten deaths were reported and there have been 7,673 new infections which means an average of 7,672 new cases per day in the last week. over 132,000 people received a first dose of the vaccine in the latest 2a hour period, meaning nearly 42 million people have now had their firstjab — that's 79.4% of uk adults. the number of people who've had their second dose of the vaccine in the latest 2a hour period, is nearly 236,000.