New figures show how many people have had a Covid vaccination in the Leicestershire area

More than 60,000 people have been given a Covid-19 vaccination across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

National figures have been regularly released but yesterday (Thursday) was the first time that the figures have been broken down into regions.

However, no official specific figures are available yet for the Harborough district - the best we can get at the moment is for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

Doctors have told our sister paper in nearby Rugby that 5,000 people in the Rugby borough have had the vaccine, including 81 per cent of care home staff and 98 per cent of people over 80, have received the jab.

Here are the new figures which show the number of people who have been vaccinated for COVID-19 in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland as recorded on the National Immunisation Management Service (NIMS) database, between December 8 and January 17:

First dose for people under 80: 28,491

First dose for people over 80: 27,826

Second dose for people under 80: 2,053

Second dose for people over 80: 3,162

Cumulative total doses to date (from Dec 8 to Jan 17): 61,532

The overall total for the country of people having had the vaccination is 3,981,445.

Andy Williams, chief executive of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) said: “Whilst there is still much more to do this represents an excellent start to our local vaccination programme and is testament to the hard work of all our NHS staff, partners and volunteers who have given up their time to support our efforts. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone involved.

“We have continued vaccinating at pace over the past week so the real-time numbers will already be significantly higher.

“The good news is that whilst the vaccination programme got off to a staggered start, as vaccine supplies increase we expect that fair shares allocation will ensure that between now and mid-February everyone in the four highest priority groups, independently set by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, can be offered the first vaccine dose. We already have significant capacity within our local programme to increase the numbers of vaccinations given as vaccine availability continues to improve.”

"Patients will be invited for their vaccination when it is their turn and there is no need to contact their GP practice about it.

“We know that many people are anxious to receive their vaccine, and I would like to reassure them that each local area is working through their list of patients in priority order and no-one will be forgotten.

“I would also like to emphasise how important it is that everyone who is invited does take up the offer of receiving the vaccine. It is suitable for all invited patients, and has been endorsed by cultural and faith leaders both locally and across the country. This vaccine saves lives.”