AROUND two-thirds of people aged 80 and over in northern England have now received their first dose of Covid vaccine.

For the North-East and Yorkshire, 67 per cent of people aged 80 and over, one of the priority groups for the vaccine, have had a jab to protect them against Covid. 

In the North West, the figure stands at 64 per cent, according to provisional NHS England data for the period up to January 17.

Meanwhile, 50 per cent of people aged 80 and over in London have had their first dose, while in eastern England the figure is 53 per cent.

It comes with warnings that people are not “invincible” after getting a coronavirus vaccine from Professor Anthony Harnden, who suggested keeping lockdown measures until spring.

The deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) told BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “We don’t know that vaccines prevent transmission and we will need a large sector of the population immunised before we interrupt transmission.

“Therefore it’s really important that we stay very cautious that we maintain social distancing and keep some sort of lockdown in certainly until the late spring period.

“Immunisation is the way out, but it’s not at the moment a quick fix and people ought to realise that once they’ve been immunised they are not 100% protected, and therefore they are not invincible.”

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

North East and Yorkshire - 67 per cent
North West - 64 per cent
South West - 61 per cent
Midlands - 60 per cent
South East - 58 per cent
Eastern England - 53 per cent
London - 50 per cent