'We can't run society to stop the hospitals getting full': Rees Mogg talks tough as UK's daily Covid cases rise by a quarter in a week and hospitalisations soar by 46%

  • The Commons Leader told a podcast that 'you can't run society purely to stop the hospitals being full'
  • His comments will raise eyebrows in Downing St, with the Prime Minister already facing Tory rebellion 
  • Department of Health bosses today posted another 7,673 positive Covid tests — up from 6,048 last Tuesday 
  • The number of infected patients admitted to hospital jumped to 184 from 126, Government data revealed
  • Despite the up-tick in admissions, deaths remain flat with 10 more victims added to the official death toll
  • Separate Office for National Statistics figures show first week of June saw fewest deaths since March 2020
  • Death count is expected to rise in coming weeks behind a spike in positive tests but vaccines should control it 

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Jacob Rees-Mogg today gave the first sign of Cabinet dissent over Boris Johnson's decision to delay the final stage of the lockdown exit roadmap — as ministers doubled-down on No10's revised Freedom Day pledge, despite cases and hospitalisations continuing to rise.

The Commons Leader said 'you can't run society purely to stop the hospitals being full', insisting the Government 'doesn't have the right to take charge of people's lives, purely to prevent them seeing the doctor'.

His comments are likely to raise eyebrows in Downing St, with the Prime Minister already facing rebellion from his own anti-lockdown MPs who have criticised him for pushing back the final unlocking by four weeks. Remaining lockdown restrictions are now due to be lifted on July 19 — or 'terminus day', as Mr Johnson called it. 

Michael Gove today said he was 'as confident as confident can be about that date', despite fears from backbench Tories that the goalposts will be moved once again with the Indian variant continuing to spread and the outbreak still growing.

The Cabinet Office minister admitted plans could be derailed by a 'bizarre' development but said it was important for the public to 'accept' there would still be Covid deaths when the country eventually unlocks, saying the nation needs to 'learn to live' with the virus. 

His comments echo the sentiments of Boris Johnson and his chief scientific advisers Professor Chris Whitty and Sir Patrick Vallance, who have all come forward in the past 24 hours to roll the pitch for July 19 being the final step of the lockdown, in what seems to be a concerted effort to take emphasis away from the daily death numbers. 

Independent experts seeking to manage expectations before restrictions are lifted told MailOnline that achieving zero Covid deaths was 'impossible' and that the focus should be to bring them down to levels comparable with flu — which kills roughly 17,000 people in England annually and up to 50,000 in a bad year.

It comes as Department of Health bosses today posted another 7,673 positive Covid tests across Britain — up by a quarter on last Tuesday's figure. Other data shows the UK now has the highest infection rate in Europe, overtaking Spain.

Meanwhile, figures also showed the number of patients being admitted to hospital has soared by 46 per cent over the first week of June. More than 1,000 beds are now occupied by coronavirus-infected patients in England for the first time in six weeks, data also showed. 

Despite the uptick in admissions, deaths remain flat. Ten more victims were added to the official death toll today, compared to 13 last week. Separate figures today revealed that England and Wales saw fewer Covid deaths in the first week of June than at any time since March 2020.

But the rate is climbing in the North West, where millions of adults are being urged not to travel and meet friends indoors to keep a lid on the Indian variant. Fatalities doubled from eight in the space of a fortnight to 16 across the region. 

No10's top scientists expect deaths to rise in coming weeks because of the spike in cases — but remain confident vaccines will thwart the disease, preventing tens of thousands of hospitalisations and fatalities.

More than 30million adults have now been vaccinated but MailOnline analysis shows the roll-out needs to speed up by around 12 per cent for the PM to meet his revised target of ensuring all adults have had their first vaccine dose and two-thirds of adults are fully vaccinated by July 19.

Meanwhile, figures also showed the number of patients being admitted to hospital has soared by 46 per cent over the first week of June. More than 1,000 beds are now occupied by coronavirus-infected patients in England for the first time in six weeks, data also showed. Pictured, how the number of infected patients in hospital in England has risen above 1,000

Meanwhile, figures also showed the number of patients being admitted to hospital has soared by 46 per cent over the first week of June. More than 1,000 beds are now occupied by coronavirus-infected patients in England for the first time in six weeks, data also showed. Pictured, how the number of infected patients in hospital in England has risen above 1,000

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons Leader, today gave the first sign of Cabinet dissent over Boris Johnson's decision to delay the final stage in his lockdown exit roadmap

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons Leader, today gave the first sign of Cabinet dissent over Boris Johnson's decision to delay the final stage in his lockdown exit roadmap

England needs to speed up its Covid vaccine roll-out by 10 per cent to reach the 18.3million needed to meet Boris Johnson's lockdown easing targets for July 19, MailOnline analysis of NHS England data reveals. Graph shows: How many first and second doses are required in each region in England in order to give all over-18s a first jab and two thirds of adults second jabs

The UK has now knocked Spain off the top spot to record the highest number of Covid infections per million people in the last seven days

The UK has now knocked Spain off the top spot to record the highest number of Covid infections per million people in the last seven days

Office for National Statistics data shows that 52 Covid deaths occurred in England and Wales between May 29 and June 4, down from 69 a week earlier and the lowest recorded since the week to March 20 last year

Office for National Statistics data shows that 52 Covid deaths occurred in England and Wales between May 29 and June 4, down from 69 a week earlier and the lowest recorded since the week to March 20 last year

Weekly deaths from the coronavirus in the UK are continuing to drop, but a worrying trend caused by the Indian variant is pushing up the number of Covid victims in the North West

Weekly deaths from the coronavirus in the UK are continuing to drop, but a worrying trend caused by the Indian variant is pushing up the number of Covid victims in the North West

Extra support to tackle a rise in cases of the Delta variant, which was first recorded in India, has been announced for more areas of the North West and Birmingham. The additional support will be introduced in Birmingham, Blackpool, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Liverpool City Region and Warrington, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said on Monday. The package, which is the same as was announced for Greater Manchester and Lancashire last week, will see more support for surge testing, tracing, isolation support and maximising vaccine uptake after a number of cases of the Delta variant were detected in the areas

Extra support to tackle a rise in cases of the Delta variant, which was first recorded in India, has been announced for more areas of the North West and Birmingham. The additional support will be introduced in Birmingham, Blackpool, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Liverpool City Region and Warrington, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said on Monday. The package, which is the same as was announced for Greater Manchester and Lancashire last week, will see more support for surge testing, tracing, isolation support and maximising vaccine uptake after a number of cases of the Delta variant were detected in the areas

One chart presented by Professor Chris Whitty yesterday showed that hospitalisations have increased 61 per cent in a week in the North West, a trend which was predicted to follow across the rest of the country. It played a heavy hand in the decision to delay Freedom Day

One chart presented by Professor Chris Whitty yesterday showed that hospitalisations have increased 61 per cent in a week in the North West, a trend which was predicted to follow across the rest of the country. It played a heavy hand in the decision to delay Freedom Day

Ministers urge another 3.6MILLION people in Indian variant hotspots not to travel 

Millions more people in the Midlands and North West of England are being urged not to travel or meet people indoors in an attempt to curb the spread of the Indian Covid variant.

In guidance released last night, roughly 3.6million residents in Birmingham, Liverpool, Warrington and parts of Cheshire were asked to minimise their movements in and out of the affected areas, which are recording higher than average levels of the mutant strain.

But Boris Johnson made no mention of the fresh advice in his dramatic Downing Street press conference last night, where he confirmed England's final unlocking would be pushed back by four weeks amid fears the mutant strain could overwhelm hospitals.

Remaining lockdown restrictions are now due to be lifted on July 19, which the Prime Minister last night promised would be the 'terminus date'.

The six authorities hit with the new guidance are also being offered a 'package of support' from the Government which includes surge testing, enhanced contact tracing and financial support to Covid cases and their contacts who have been asked to self-isolate.

The Army will be sent in to help carry out the extra testing to flush out cases of the virus, while NHS boards in the area will be given extra help to ensure vaccine uptake is as high as possible. Residents are also being asked to get tested twice a week.

They join the 4m people in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, who were placed under the new rules last week. The enhanced measures cover around 9.3m residents across England, the equivalent of 16 per cent of the entire population.

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Mr Rees-Mogg appeared to hint at dissent in the Cabinet as he told Conservative Home's Moggcast podcast: 'Ultimately the NHS is there to serve the British people, not the British people there to serve the NHS.

'And therefore we may need to spend more money on hospitals.

'But you can't run society purely to stop the hospitals being full otherwise you would never let us get in our cars and drive anywhere or do any of the other things that people want to.

'So there has to be some proportionality within that.

'The Government doesn’t have the right to take charge of people's lives, purely to prevent them seeing the doctor.'

Mr Johnson announced last night the last step in his roadmap will be postponed by four weeks to give the vaccine rollout more time amid fears the mutant 'Delta' strain could cause case numbers to sky rocket, potentially overwhelming hospitals.

The move means current rules will essentially remain in place until July 19 — with social distancing in force in bars and restaurants, and the edict to work from home where possible staying.

In an effort to soften the blow for people who have been putting their lives on hold for more than a year, there will be some easing on the rules for weddings. 

The 30-person limit on services and receptions will be abandoned but venues will still be restricted by how many they can accommodate while respecting social distancing rules.

Speaking on behalf of the Government this morning, Mr Gove doubled down on the July 19 pledge. 

Asked if he could promise that the final unlocking will go ahead next month, the minister for the Cabinet Office replied 'yes' and added that only a 'bizarre and unprecedented' development in the Covid crisis could derail the plans.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'As the prime minister and Chris Whitty said at the press conference last night, we’re going to have to learn to live with Covid, and it’s a very nasty virus. 

'We can provide people with the best protection possible through the vaccination programme. But, as with flu, we know that that every year there are a number of people who contract it, and every year certainly there are a number of people who are hospitalised and who suffer as a result of it.'

But Mr Gove's comments came after one of SAGE's top advisers warned it was still possible that the nation could return to seeing hundreds of deaths a day.

Top European resorts including Spain and Turkey are 'unlikely to be added to the green list before August' 

Top European resorts are unlikely to be added to the green list 'before August', foreign tourism chiefs have reportedly been told, leaving millions of Britons facing another summer without a holiday abroad.

UK ambassadors are said to have warned foreign tourism bosses that the return of British travellers to traditional holiday hot-spots such as Spain and Turkey will be pushed back until later this summer.

It comes as holiday firm TUI announced yesterday that it was axing more of its trips to top European holiday destinations up until July.

And one travel expert today warned that July was now being regarded as a 'white-wash' for industry bosses.

Despite this, some firms are reporting a spike in demand for flights to Gibraltar, Israel and Iceland - which are all currently on the UK's green list.

Meanwhile, a new report by Which? today revealed how less than one per cent of travel insurances are providing 'complete cover' for Covid-related disruption.

The latest travel set-back will be a particular blow to traditional holiday destinations - including the likes of Portugal, Greece France - which are currently on the UK's amber list.

Toni Mayor, head of the Hosbec association of Valencia region hoteliers, said he did not expect to see the bulk of UK tourism take off until August, according to the Telegraph.

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Professor Graham Medley, of the London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: 'Although the numbers of deaths are low at the moment, everyone expects that they will rise. The question is really as to what level they will rise.'

When asked if learning to live with the virus meant accepting hundreds of deaths a day, Mr Gove stressed that he was not an epidemiologist and replied: 'I think it’s a fair question, but I’d look at it the other way around. The key thought, in my mind, is how do we provide the maximum level of protection to all.'

And quizzed about the same topic on Times Radio, Mr Gove said it was 'important' that society accepts Brits will still die of Covid but that we should do 'everything we can consistent with society running normally to protect people'. 

Professor Medley also insisted the Delta variant 'would have ended up in the UK at some point' even if the borders had been closed sooner.

Asked whether it would have made a difference if Britain had stopped people coming from India in early April, he said: 'Potentially, I mean it's speculation.

'The newer Delta variant is now quite common around the globe so it would have ended up in the UK at some point but perhaps it would have been delayed.

'It's really the competition between the virus and the vaccine so had the variant arrived in the country when we'd had more people vaccinated, then it may well not have grown in the same way that it has.

'It is now the predominant virus in the United Kingdom. And so it got a good start. A lot of cases introduced,

'Whether that's made a huge difference I think is something that we can look at afterwards but at the moment it's kind of speculation.'

Asked about whether there could be a need for future measures, Professor Graham Medley said: 'Again, it really depends upon what the prospects look like in terms of the way that this virus reacts with the vaccine, and that has actually turned out to be good news and uncertainty is solidified in terms of being good news.

'There is that possibility though, I think that depending on what the Government wants to achieve, they may well have to make decisions that are against what they would much prefer not to do which is to make the changes that we've got irreversible.

'It is possible we could end up with a situation whereby the numbers of people going to hospital, really mean that the Government have to take some kind of action that they don't want to, but I think that's always been the case – Government has always taken action to that it didn't want to, it never wanted to lockdown.

England needs to speed up its Covid vaccine rollout by 12% to reach 15MILLION jabs needed to hit Boris Johnson's targets for July 19

England needs to speed up its Covid vaccine roll-out by 12 per cent to meet Boris Johnson's ambitious target for July 19, MailOnline can reveal.

Analysis of NHS England data shows 15.3million extra jabs need to be administered to ensure all adults have had their first dose and two-thirds have are fully inoculated by 'terminus day'. The Government's previous goal was to ensure all over-18s were offered a jab by the end of July.

Although No10 hasn't made achieving the goal a clause of going ahead with the final unlocking, Freedom Day was only ever delayed from June 21 by four weeks to ensure millions more adults were fully protected and to save the NHS from being overwhelmed once again.

Statistics suggest the health service would have to speed up its current roll-out by nearly an extra 50,000 doses per day in order to meet the targets.

Currently England is administering around 390,000 jabs per day but it needs to hit just under 440,000. In the UK as a whole, around 462,000 jabs are being dished out a day on average — 45 per cent fewer than the best day of the roll-out on March 20, when almost 850,000 jabs were administered.

London will require the most combined first and second doses to meet the targets, with nearly 4million jabs still needed. Mayor Sadiq Khan today pleaded the Government for more Pfizer and Moderna doses to meet demand for its younger population.

Meanwhile, the UK today passed the milestone of fully vaccinating 30m people, or 57.3 per cent of the population. NHS vaccinations yesterday dished out a further 132,117 first doses and 230,959 second doses.

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'And it's always going to be the case in the sense that there is this pandemic ongoing but the next pandemic will happen at some point unknown, and then having used lockdowns once it's quite possible that the Government would choose to use them again.' 

But Professor Medley warned even in three weeks, experts will not know if lifting the restrictions is 100 per cent safe.

And he said waiting until after summer to lift restrictions could result in a worse situation by creating a 'super wave' of Covid and flu.

He said: 'In three weeks’ time how much uncertainty will remain? I suspect that the answer is more than we would like.

Waiting too long to lift Covid restrictions could cause more deaths by creating a 'super wave' of Covid and flu, a SAGE advisor has warned.

Infectious disease modeller at the London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine professor Graham Medley said waiting until winter to lift restrictions

Experts predict another wave of infections is inevitable but have advised the Government to delay its July 21 'Freedom Day' to allow more jabs to be given out.

Ministers hope ensuring more people have been given their first and second vaccine doses will ensure a surge in cases does not translate into hospitals become overwhelmed during the summer.

But Professor Medley warned even in three weeks, experts will not know if lifting the restrictions is 100 per cent safe.

 

 

 

Despite No10's confidence that July 19 will go ahead, Tory MPs are sceptical. 

Former minister Mark Harper, chairman of the Covid Recovery Group (CRG) of Tory MPs, tweeted: 'We've heard ministers say they're pretty confident about lifting restrictions before and then do the opposite.' 

Labour today blamed the delay of Freedom Day on the Government's 'lax' border measures for letting the Indian variant into the country. Professor Medley admitted that the mutant strain 'may well not have grown in the same way that it has' had ministers acted quicker to clamp down on travel from India. 

Meanwhile, millions more people in the Midlands and North West of England were urged not to travel or meet people indoors in an attempt to curb the spread of the Indian Covid variant.

In guidance released last night, roughly 3.6million residents in Birmingham, Liverpool, Warrington and parts of Cheshire were asked to minimise their movements in and out of the affected areas, which are recording higher than average levels of the mutant strain.

But Mr Johnson made no mention of the fresh advice — which has helped to thwart the spread of the variant in Bolton and Blackburn — in his dramatic Downing Street press conference last night. 

The six authorities hit with the new guidance are also being offered a 'package of support' from the Government which includes surge testing, enhanced contact tracing and financial support to Covid cases and their contacts who have been asked to self-isolate.

The Army will be sent in to help carry out the extra testing to flush out cases of the virus, while NHS boards in the area will be given extra help to ensure vaccine uptake is as high as possible. Residents are also being asked to get tested twice a week.

They join the 4m people in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, who were placed under the new rules last week. The enhanced measures cover around 9.3m residents across England, the equivalent of 16 per cent of the entire population.

The spread of the Indian variant — believed to be 60 per cent more infectious than the Kent strain and twice as likely to put unvaccinated people in hospital — has led to No10 pumping the brakes on England's June 21 Freedom Day. 

Last night Chief medical officer Chris Whitty warned hospitalisations had risen 61 per cent in the North West in just a week. He said the trend was expected to be seen across the rest of the country if June 21 had gone ahead as planned. 

Boris backs down over lockdown announcement row: Prime Minister agrees to make major announcements in the Commons at the same time as appearing on TV 

Boris Johnson has agreed to make major Covid decisions to Parliament as well as to the nation on television, it was revealed today, after he was given a blunt telling off by the Commons' Speaker.

The Prime Minister was summoned by Sir Lindsay Hoyle this afternoon for showdown talks amid a furious bust-up over the four-week lockdown delay that was announced last night.

Mr Johnson was slapped down by Sir Lindsay last night for 'disrespecting' MPs with his live television broadcast from Downing Street - because they should have been the first to be told.

The Speaker made clear his fury after the Prime Minister performed his teatime media duties and then left Health Secretary Matt Hancock to face the ire of lockdown-sceptic backbenchers later in the evening.

At 'cordial' talks at the Speaker's residence this afternoon, a spokeswoman for the Speaker said the two men 'agreed the importance of keeping Parliament and the public informed when decisions are made'.

'They agreed announcements would be made at the same time,' she added.

Sir Lindsay last night accused the PM of 'running roughshod' over Parliament, and said Number 10's treatment of Parliament has been 'totally unacceptable' as he again stressed that such announcements should first be made at the despatch box.

He demanded a meeting with the PM and Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg this morning confirmed that they would meet this afternoon.

Mr Johnson spent most of yesterday at a Nato summit in Brussels with Joe Biden and other world leaders who are part of the bloc.

But he returned in time to take the press conference from Downing Street at 6pm, by which time Sir Lindsay had already voiced his anger at the timetable.

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In other developments today, weekly Covid death figures showed fatalities had reached the lowest level since before the pandemic took off.

The ONS figures released today show that over 30 per cent of all Covid deaths in England and Wales – 16 of 52 – were recorded in the North West.

The number of people who had Covid mentioned on their death certificated between May 29 and June 4 was 98, which accounted for just 1.3 per cent of all deaths in England and Wales.  Of those deaths, 96 were in England and two were in Wales. 

The numbers are up slightly from 95 recorded in the week before, but this slight increase was likely caused by registration lags due to the spring bank holiday, when many registry offices closed.

The data shows that 7,778 deaths were recorded in England and Wales that week – 4.8 per cent below the five year average, with the ONS noting this number was also impacted by the holiday. 

Of the 98 people who had Covid mentioned on their death certificate between May 29 and June 4, only 57 had this recorded as their underlying cause of death.

The statistics show that for a second week in a row, most victims who died from were under 75, with 71.4 per cent of those being aged between 65 and 75.

The majority of Covid deaths took place in hospitals, followed by care homes.

Professor Kevin McConway, professor of applied statistics at the Open University, said the bank holiday makes short-term trends 'pretty well impossible to evaluate for the latest week'. 

He said this is 'particularly unhelpful', because accurate statistics for that week could have been 'particularly informative', as it is three weeks after restrictions were lifted for step three of England's roadmap.

'Mid-May is also when the Delta variant was becoming dominant, so any effect on deaths from that could have shown up,' he said. 

'Late registrations because of the bank holiday mean it's not at all surprising that the total numbers of registered deaths from all causes is lower than the previous week, but we can't tell yet if that's a real decrease.'

He said it is 'very likely' that when complete data is published – stating when the deaths happened, rather than when they were registered – it will be higher than 98.

Professor McConway warned that despite the number of Covid victims being 'very small' compared to most of the pandemic, 'a rise is not good news after consistent decreases every week since mid-January'. 

Though he said there is not yet a 'major cause for concern'.

'All these deaths are important and sad events for the families and friends of the person who died, but the numbers are still small,' he said. 

'What's important is that a close eye is kept on how the numbers change as the Delta variant becomes more and more established,' Professor McConway added.

 

England needs to speed up its Covid vaccine rollout by 12% to reach 15MILLION jabs needed to hit Boris Johnson's targets for July 19, analysis shows as UK reaches 30million fully inoculated milestone

Britain now has Europe's WORST Covid outbreak as rapid spread of Indian variant sees nation overtake Spain 

The UK now has the highest daily rate of coronavirus infections in Europe after overtaking Spain, figures revealed today. 

Statistics compiled by the Oxford University-based research platform Our World in Data show that 107.3 people per million in the UK tested positive for the virus on average per day over the last week.

The UK had for months been one of the least-affected countries on the continent after racing ahead of the EU with its vaccine rollout when many European nations were battered by a second wave.

But an outbreak of the ultra-infectious Indian Covid variant has pushed Britain's infection rate back up and forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to pump the brakes on the final stage of his roadmap out of lockdown. 

The UK is now ahead of the 43 other European countries included in the statistics. Spain has the second-highest Covid infection rates, with 104.6 cases per million people, followed by Latvia (92.1) and Andorra (90.6). 

Belarus (89.77) and Russia (83.7) have the next most highest infection rates, followed by Denmark (78.36), the Netherlands (77.19) and Sweden (76.3).

Italy, which was one of the European countries hit worst by the first wave of the virus last March, now has just 28.5 cases per million.  Portugal, which moved to the UK's amber travel list last week after an increase in cases, has recorded 70.58 per million. 

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England needs to speed up its Covid vaccine roll-out by 12 per cent to meet Boris Johnson's ambitious target for July 19, MailOnline can reveal after the UK reached the 30million milestone for second doses. 

Analysis of NHS England data shows 15.3million extra jabs need to be administered to ensure all adults have had their first dose and two-thirds have are fully inoculated by 'terminus day'. The Government's previous goal was to ensure all first doses were dished out by the end of July.

Although No10 hasn't made achieving the goal a clause of going ahead with the final unlocking, it was only ever delayed from June 21 by four weeks to ensure millions more adults were fully protected and to save the NHS from being overwhelmed once again. 

Statistics suggest the health service would have to speed up its current roll-out by nearly an extra 50,000 doses per day in order to meet the targets. Currently England is administering around 390,000 jabs per day but it needs to hit just under 440,000. In the UK as a whole, around 462,000 jabs are being dished out a day on average — 45 per cent less than the 844,285 dished out on the March 20 peak.

London will require the most combined first and second doses to meet the targets, with nearly 4million jabs still needed. Mayor Sadiq Khan today pleaded the Government for more Pfizer and Moderna doses to meet demand for its younger population.

The UK yesterday dished out a further 132,117 first doses and 230,959 second doses, taking the country's total fully inoculated population to 30.2million — 57.3 per cent of the population.

It comes as NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens today announced the health service expects all over-18s to be offered a vaccine by the end of the week. The roll-out was extended to over-23s today.

But the rate at which younger adults can be given a jab will depend on how many doses are made available by manufacturers, with Sir Simon admitting that 'supply continues to be constrained'. 

Vaccinating under-30s is entirely dependent on the supply of the Pfizer and Moderna jabs. AstraZeneca's vaccine is not recommended for under-40s because of its rare links to blood clots. 

Boris Johnson yesterday delayed June 21 'Freedom Day' by four weeks to give the NHS time to vaccinate more adults and prevent the current spike in cases caused by the Indian 'Delta' variant resulting in hospitals becoming overwhelmed. 

The Office for National Statistics population estimates include over-16s, so the MailOnline figures suggested will be slightly higher than in reality. No population data is provided by the NHS.

In order to reach the 15.3million doses by July 19, a rate of 438,009 first and second jabs will have to be dished out every day.

England's current rate as of June 10 is 390,329 meaning the health service would have to provide a further 47,680 a day. At the current rate, it would not meet the Government's target until July 25.

ALL over-18s are in line to be invited for Covid vaccines by the end of the week, NHS boss Sir Simon Stevens says 

All over-18s are expected to be invited for their first Covid vaccine dose by the end of this week, NHS England's boss claimed today.

Sir Simon Stevens told the NHS Confederation's annual conference that the health service would 'finish the job' of the vaccination programme to the 'greatest extent possible' over the next four weeks. 

He said he expects all remaining adults to be offered their first vaccine by the end of the week but admitted 'supply continues to be constrained'.

The vaccine roll-out was extended to all 23- to 24-year-olds today, with people in the age group now able to book their appointment. 

In light of the rapidly spreading Indian variant, the Government has brought forward its target for vaccinating all adults until July 19 — the same day the final unlocking has been pushed back until. Ministers had previously pledged to offer jabs to all over-18s by July 31. 

Boris Johnson last night announced a delay to the original June 21 'Freedom Day' by four weeks, amid fears a third wave of Covid could overwhelm the NHS.

Top scientists hope the move will give the health service more time to vaccinate as many people as possible, offering the nation as much protection against the Indian variant as possible.

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London has the most vaccines still needed to meet the target, with a further 2.3million first doses and 1.6million second doses required.

The Midlands needs the second highest amount, with 2million first doses and 670,000 second doses yet to be given out — 2.7million in total.

The South West is closest to meeting the Government's target, with just 1.1million doses still required, followed by the East of England (1.5million).

But reaching the targets by June 19 will not only require speeding up the roll-out from its current rate but also that supply remains at least at the same levels currently experienced.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan today called on the Government to speed up the roll-out and has requested 367,000 extra Pfizer and Moderna doses for the capital.

Mr Khan told the Evening Standard: 'Ministers must accelerate the roll-out of the vaccines so that restrictions can be lifted as soon as possible.

'London has a young population, so it's essential the Government allocates the capital more Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to allow us to rapidly provide first doses to younger age groups, while bringing forward second doses. This final push will help us to return to doing more of the things we love and to open up our economy.'

All over-18s are expected to be invited for their first Covid vaccine dose by the end of this week, NHS England's boss claimed today.

Sir Simon Stevens told the NHS Confederation's annual conference that the health service would 'finish the job' of the vaccination programme to the 'greatest extent possible' over the next four weeks.

He said he expects all remaining adults to be offered their first vaccine by the end of the week but admitted 'supply continues to be constrained'.

The vaccine roll-out was extended to all 23- to 24-year-olds today, with people in the age group now able to book their appointment.

Sir Simon said: 'It is now very important that we use the next four weeks to finish the job to the greatest extent possible for the Covid vaccination programme, which has been a historic signature achievement in terms of the effectiveness of delivering by the NHS — over 60 million doses now administered.

'By July 19 we aim to have offered perhaps two thirds of adults across the country double jabs.

'And we're making great strides also in extending the offer to all adults — today people aged 23 and 24 are able to vaccinate through the National Booking Service.

'I expect that by the end of this week, we'll be able to open up the National Booking Service to all adults age 18 and above.

'Of course, vaccine supply continues to be constrained, so we're pacing ourselves at precisely the rate of which we're getting that extra vaccine supply between now and July 19.'