COVID-19: More People Now Vaccinated In The UK Than Have Tested Positive For Virus

More than 3.5 million people have been vaccinated against coronavirus in the UK - surpassing the number who have tested positive for the virus, latest government figures show.

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A total of 3,559,179 people have been given their first dose as of Friday, with 447,261 people having also received their second dose.

The vaccination data comes as a further 1,295 coronavirus-related deaths and 41,346 new cases were announced on Saturday.


It brings the number of deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test to 88,590, while more than 3.3 million cases have been recorded.

The latest daily death figure is the UK's third-highest of the pandemic, although the figures are based on the dates when deaths were reported and not when they occurred.

The recent surge in cases and deaths has prompted officials to take restrictions further by ending the travel corridor system.

People travelling from some countries with low coronavirus case rates had been allowed to enter the UK without self-isolating, but all foreign travellers will have to quarantine for 10 days from Monday - or receive a negative test at least five days after landing.

All flights from South America, Portugal and Cape Verde have been banned following the emergence of two new coronavirus variants from Brazil that have worried authorities.

Eight cases of the first variant have already been discovered in the UK, while leading epidemiologist Professor John Edmunds has warned the second is already likely to be circulating - although it has not been detected so far.

There are concerns the second variant could be more transmissible and reinfect those who have already had COVID-19, but this is not yet known.

There have been some signs of a small reduction in COVID-19 cases in parts of the UK over recent days, although infections remain high at around 40,000 per day and some local areas are still seeing rises.

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