UK responds to calls to be open about vaccination data

The British government has faced calls to be more open about the data when it comes to  vaccinations.

For example, by publishing how many have been given and where on a daily basis, like it does with cases and deaths, Sky News reports.

Ministers said it was taking time to collate all the information and verify its accuracy.

Wednesday's announcement is the first time specific numbers have been revealed - instead of the assurance that "tens of thousands" of jabs have been administered.

Nadhim Zahawi, the minister responsible for the jab's deployment, confirmed there had been 137,897 vaccinations given across the UK so far.

The first person in Britain to get a coronavirus jab outside a clinical trial was 90-year-old Margaret Keenan.

The grandmother-of-four received it at Coventry's University Hospital at 6.31am last Tuesday.

Since then, many others have had the vaccine, including the second patient and first man to receive it in Britain, William Shakespeare, and celebrity chef Prue Leith.

A priority list determines the order for getting the jab and is based mostly on age and increased risk of suffering serious illness from the virus.

It is as follows:

1 - Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
2 - All those aged 80 and over, as well as frontline health and social care workers
3 - All those aged 75 and over
4 - All those aged 70 and over, as well as clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
5 - All those aged 65 and over
6 - All individuals aged 16-64 with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
7 - All those aged 60 and over
8 - All those aged 55 and over
9 - All those aged 50 and over

Two groups will not receive the vaccine:

1 - Pregnant women
2 - Most children under 16