TRIALS to enable the safe return of crowds to mass gatherings are set to begin as the Government prepares to launch “vaccine passports”.

More than half of Colchester’s residents have received their first dose of the Covid vaccine so far.

Latest data from NHS England shows 86,791 people aged 16 and above had been given a vaccine jab by March 28, which equates to 55 per cent of the area’s population.

A total of 64,039 of those who were vaccinated were aged 50 or above, making up 95 per cent of the age group.

It means 22,752 people aged between 16 and 49 have received a first dose of the vaccine.

Across England, 25.9 million people had received their first dose of a vaccine by March 28, which makes for 57 per cent of the population aged 16 and over.

That includes 19.6 million people aged 50 and over, which is 93 per cent of the age group.

The figures also show that 2.9 million people have had a second dose of the jab.

Harwich and North Essex’s MP sir Bernard Jenkin said on his website: “A lot has changed since the Government announced its roadmap.

“Uptake has been higher in over fifties than expected. “Vaccine supply looks like it is going to take a hit in April.

“However, the Government’s strategy makes even more sense than it did in February.”

He added: “But we are still in the danger zone and that’s before you even start thinking about new variants.”

Today the Prime Minister will officially announce details of a “traffic light” system for rating overseas destinations, lowering controls on journeys to those countries assessed as being at the lowest risk.

Officials say travel will not begin before May 17 at the earliest and that it was still too soon to predict which countries would be cleared.

The official advice remains that people should wait for the full report of the Government’s global travel task force due on April 12 before booking a holiday.

It comes as many European countries moved to impose new lockdown restrictions as a third wave of the pandemic spreads across the continent.

Under the traffic light system, assessments will be based on a range of factors, including the proportion of a country’s population which has been vaccinated, rates of infection, emerging new variants and the country’s access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.

Travellers arriving from countries rated “green” will not be required to isolate although pre-departure and post-arrival tests will still be needed.

For those classed as “amber” or “red”, the restrictions will remain as they are with arrivals required to isolate or enter quarantine.

Since the start of the pandemic 11,291 in Colchester alone have tested positive for coronavirus while 9,908 people have returned a positive test in Tendring.

Across the Essex County Council area there has been 112,686 cases to date.

In Colchester, 385 people have died within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test compared to 568 in Tendring.

The Essex County Council area has now seen 3,929 deaths.