Vaccine chief ‘optimistic’ everyone over 50 (and some 16 to 65’s) will get Covid vaccine by May

The chairman of the UK’s Covid-19 vaccination taskforce, Dr Clive Dix, has said he is very ‘optimistic’ that those aged over 50 and those aged 16 to 65 who have certain health conditions will be vaccinated by the end of April.

Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Dr Clive Dix said: ‘I’m very optimistic we’ll definitely meet the May target. Every time we’ve been set an objective on the taskforce, we’ve met it, and we’ll work day and night to ensure we meet whatever target that’s feasible.’

Nearly 11.5million people in the UK have now received their first Covid-19 vaccination with over 500,000 having received their second dose.

The total of first doses, 11,465,210, represent around 17% of the UK population and is an increase of 494,163 since the last update yesterday.

510,057 people had received both a first and second jab, up 4,064 from yesterday.