The UK has now vaccinated 9.2 million people, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said, with more than 900,000 vaccinated over the weekend.

On Monday night Matt Hancock addressed the nation amid news 105 cases of the new South African variant of the coronavirus had been detected in the UK.

The Health Secretary was joined by NHS England’s Professor Stephen Powis and Public Health England’s Dr Susan Hopkins.

Here are the key points.

1 in 60 adults receive Covid vaccine

The UK has now vaccinated 9.2 million people, Matt Hancock confirmed, with more than 900,000 vaccinated over the weekend – the equivalent of 1 in every 60 adults.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Hancock said almost nine in 10 of all those aged over 80 had been vaccinated, with over half of those in their 70s receiving a jab.

He added: “We have visited every single care home with older residents in England and offered vaccinations to all of their residents and staff – this has been an incredible example of health and social care working together.”

“No regrets”

Mr Hancock said that the UK has now ordered another 40 million vaccine doses from Valneva, adding that the UK is continuing with its “no regrets” attitude to backing vaccines that have yet to be approved.

He said that if it gains approval, the Valneva vaccine will be manufactured in Livingston in Scotland.

South African variant

Mr Hancock revealed 11 of the 105 cases of the new South African variant in the UK do not appear to have travelled outside of the UK.

Despite no clear evidence to suggest the variant is anymore dangerous, the Health Secretary warned “we need to come down on it hard”.

The cases have been identified in the following postcodes: W7, N17, CR4, WS2, ME15, EN10, GU21 and PR9.

Mr Hancock said it was “imperative” that people in these areas stay at home and get a test when it is offered to them, even if they have no symptoms.

He called on the nation to “do what we must to get this virus under control”.

Will the vaccines work against new variant?

Dr Susan Hopkins said three of the vaccines that had been used in trials had shown to be effective against the new South African coronavirus variant.

“We expect all other vaccines to have a similar level of effectiveness, particularly in reducing hospitalisation and death,” she said.

Dr Hopkins added that further testing was taking place involving the South African variant so that predictions could be made with “greater robustness.”

Will areas with new variant face tougher restrictions?

Matt Hancock says "of course we're always looking at what we need to do" but remind the nation that the national lockdown remains in place. 

"In particular, in the postcodes that I've set out, people should stay at home unless they absolutely have to leave. And anybody even thinking about stretching the rules in those areas must not. 

"Of course, further measures are always there - but we already have this very strong set of rules."

Plans for vaccinating extremely clinically vulnerable people

Asked about plans for vaccinating extremely clinically vulnerable people, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “We do have enough supply to be able to hit the target of offering everybody in groups one to four by the 15th of February and we’re working very hard to make sure everybody gets that offer.

“And then I’m very keen that everybody takes up that offer, that isn’t only through the GP services, although they are playing a huge role, but also through the mass vaccination centres and the hospitals.”

He added: “The rollout is happening on mass scale, as you can see by the numbers that we’re getting through and we’ve got the supply to be able to make that offer to everybody ahead of the 15th of February.”

NHS England’s Professor Stephen Powis said that NHS staff were “working hard” to make sure that housebound individuals that could not attend vaccination centres for their jabs were reached at home.

He told a Downing Street press conference that he was “confident” that the Government was on track to reach its vaccination targets including the clinically vulnerable.

“We will reach them, irrespective of whether they are able to travel into centres or not,” he said.

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