Covid vaccine: How many people in the UK have been vaccinated so far?

More than 46 million people in the UK have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine - part of the biggest inoculation programme the country has ever launched.

These high vaccination levels have created a "protective wall", the government has said, sufficient to now end all legal restrictions on social contact.

First vaccines are now being offered to everyone aged 18 and above as well as children over the age of 12 who are at higher risk from Covid.

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The rollout expanded to all those aged 18 and over after the government hit its target of offering a first jab to everyone in the top priority groups - all those over the age of 50, plus those in high-risk categories - by mid-April.

The UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) later recommended vaccinating children aged 12-15 if they were in a higher-risk group. Those aged 16 or 17 in those groups could already get vaccinated under existing rules.

Young people who are within three months of turning 18 and those aged 12-17 who live with people who have a suppressed immune system, can now also get a jab.

Overall, around 370,000 children will be eligible, but the vast majority of children in the UK, considered low risk, will not be offered the vaccine for now.

So far, the UK has approved four vaccines for use: Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen; three of which require two doses for maximum protection.

Eligible children are being offered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, while people aged under 40 are being offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to evidence linking it to rare blood clots.

Millions of the most vulnerable may also be offered a third, booster vaccination from September - if the data suggests they are needed.

So far, more than 46 million people have had a first vaccine dose - nearly 90% of the adult population - and more than 37 million - over 70% of adults - have had both doses.

The number of first doses administered each day is now averaging more than 42,000 - far below a peak of some 500,000 in mid-March. It rose in recent weeks as the vaccine rollout reached younger age groups, but has since fallen.

An average of more than 170,000 second doses are now being given a day. The delivery of second doses has been accelerated in response to the emergence of the Delta variant, first identified in India.

Vaccination rates are highest in the over 70s age group - among the first to be offered a jab.

Rates appear to be levelling off in most age groups, though, but are still rising among those aged 18-24.

Progress made in the UK so far means the country continues to be among those with the highest vaccination rates globally.

The aim of the vaccination programme is to protect as many people as possible from serious illness through developing the UK population's immunity against Covid-19.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests more than nine in 10 adults in the UK now have coronavirus antibodies - which is evidence of a past Covid infection or having received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Roughly 92% of adults tested by the ONS during the week ending 4 July had Covid antibodies, up from 89% a fortnight before.

However, this figure does not tell us how many people are protected from infection or how close we are to reaching herd immunity - the point at which everyone is protected, directly or indirectly, as a result of high immunity levels in the population.

England's deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam around 60,000 deaths and around 22 million cases had been prevented in England as a result of the vaccination programme.

Across the country, there continues to be some variation in the vaccine programme.

Wales and Scotland have vaccinated 90% of those aged 18 and over with at least one dose, while England has reached 88% and Northern Ireland 83%.

Second doses are also being rolled out, with all nations reaching 70% or more of adults so far.

Across the English regions, the South West has vaccinated 85% of the same age group with at least one dose, while London has reached 66%.

There have also been disparities between ethnic groups and poorer and wealthier areas.

Analysis of NHS records by the OpenSAFELY group - a collaboration between Oxford University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine - shows that black people were the least likely to have received a vaccine.

The study was based on more than 20 million patient records in England and covers people not living in care homes. Areas of London are under-represented in the data.

In addition, vaccine take-up in poorer areas is lower than in more affluent areas.

For example, 87% of those aged 50 and over in the poorest areas had been given a vaccine by 21 July, compared with 95% in the most affluent.

The Pfizer-BioNTech jab - the first to be given the green light in December - is being imported from Puurs, Belgium.

A second vaccine, from Oxford University and AstraZeneca, is being made at a number of sites in Britain. Further doses are expected to come from the Serum Institute of India and the Halix plant in the Dutch city of Leiden.

The third, from Moderna, is coming from sites in Switzerland and Spain, via Belgium, while the Janssen vaccine, due to arrive later this year, is produced in the Netherlands by the Belgian firm, owned by Johnson & Johnson.

The UK is also lined up to receive at least two further vaccines if they are approved for use.

A jab manufactured by US firm Novavax will be made in Stockton-on-Tees in north-east England, while another by French company Valneva will be made in Livingston, West Lothian, Scotland.

The UK has ordered more than 500 million doses of seven of the most promising vaccines, including the four so far approved for use.

An extra 60 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine were ordered in April as part of the government's plans for a vaccination booster programme in the autumn.

But it has amended its original order of the Janssen single-dose vaccine from 30 million to 20 million doses, given the "unprecedented scale and pace" of the vaccination programme.

Ministers have also announced an eighth deal with biopharmaceutical company CureVac to develop vaccines against future variants.

It has placed an initial order for 50 million doses to be delivered later this year - if they are required.

Will your vaccine appointment be the first time you have left home in a long while? Have you or your loved ones been making a special effort for the occasion? Send your photos or videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk.

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