THE number of over 80s vaccinated for coronavirus in suffolk north Essex has almost doubled in a week after a huge push by the NHS.

And almost three quarters of over 80s in north Essex have now received the vaccine, official figures show.

The stats, published today by NHS England, show a total of 43,945 people over 80 in the Suffolk and north east Essex area had received the first dose of the jab as of Friday.

This represents 71 per cent of the total population aged 80 and above living in the area.

Although the area is still lagging behind its near neighbours, such as Mid and South Essex where 81.8 per cent of over 80s have received the vaccine, significant progress has been made over the last week.

A week earlier NHS England figures showed just 22,265, or 36 per cent of over 80s, in Suffolk and north east Essex had received their first dose.

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Another 63,994 people under the age of 80 have also been vaccinated in Suffolk and north east Essex whilst the east as a whole has also made significant progress on its vaccination programme.

A total of 285,970 people over 80 had received the vaccine as of Friday, just under 80 per cent of residents in this age group.

This has increased from 53 per cent a week earlier.

It is however, still the third lowest total in the country, above London, at 65.4 per cent, and the South East, at 78.3 per cent.

A total of 6,918,853 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and January 27, according to the provisional NHS England data.

Almost 850,000 of these were administered in the east.

Nearly four in five of everyone in the UK aged over 80 has received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Yesterday Cabinet minister Michael Gove said there “will be no interruption” to UK vaccine supplies from AstraZeneca after the European Union demanded doses from British plants during a row over supply shortages.

He said: “The critical thing is we must make sure that the schedule that has been agreed and on which our vaccination programme has been based and planned goes ahead.

“It is the case that the supplies that have been planned, paid for and scheduled should continue, absolutely. There will be no interruption to that.”