MORE than half of people aged 80 and over in the region have received their first dose of the Covid vaccine, figures reveal.

NHS England’s latest data shows 53 per cent of over 80s in the East of England have been jabbed.

Last week, the region had the lowest percentage in the country, but it has now overtaken London which has administered the first dose to 50 per cent of over 80s.

But for north-east England and Yorkshire the figure stands at 67 per cent.

NHS England’s figures show the number of first doses broken down by STPs (sustainability and transformational partnerships), each of which contains a number of local authorities, NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups.

Figures show, as of today, 22,265 people aged over 80 in the Suffolk and North East Essex STP have received their first vaccine dose.

So far 4,790 over 80s have also had their second vaccine dose.

In comparison, 31,159 people in the area aged under 80 have had their first vaccine, and 1,124 have been given their second dose.

The amount of people to have both does in the Suffolk and North East Essex STP stands at 59,338.

This figure comes fairly below the data for the Mid and South Essex STP which is at 80,211.

However, the lowest figure in the region was for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, which revealed only 46,540 residents in both age categories have received both their first and second jab.

An NHS England spokesman said: “Priority groups for vaccination in this initial phase were determined by government following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.”

Here are the regional percentages in full, based on NHS England data combined with population estimates from the Office for National Statistics:

  • NE England and Yorkshire 67%
  • NW England 64%
  • SW England 61%
  • Midlands 60%
  • SE England 58%
  • Eastern England 53%
  • London 50%