Covid vaccine rollout catches up in the East - tracking coronavirus in the Anglia region
Watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Elodie Harper
The latest government figures suggest the Covid vaccine programme in the East of England has caught up with the rest of England after a slower start in the rollout.
By Sunday, more than 712,000 people had received at the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine in the East of England which represents nearly 14% of the adult population.
On Saturday nearly 70,000 received a first jab which was three times the number who were given an injection in the region at the start of the week on Monday 18 January. There were more than 31,000 more injections on Sunday.
Six more mass vaccination centres are opening this week in the East of England in Cambridge, Harlow, Ipswich, Luton, Northampton and Peterborough.
But there are concerns about supply problems in some areas with the vaccines. James Morrow, a GP with the Granta Medical Practices in Cambridge said they have been told not to expect new deliveries this week
Dr Morrow said: "As of yesterday we were expecting to have a delivery at some stage this week, we're not sure when.
"As far as we understand this morning we're not going to get any delivery this week at all. So we will have people, the clinics, the space, the staff ready to go, but no vaccine to administer."
A higher proportion of people in the East of England have now received their first jab than in the Midlands, London and the South East but the region is still lagging behind the North West and the South West.
Initially the rollout of the vaccine was slower in the East of England with 186,000 given the first dose of vaccine in the first month from 8 December to 10 January.
The proportion of people 80 and over given the jab was 29% in the region at that time - the lowest in England. It had risen to 53% a week later and the Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed over the week that three-quarters of the over 80s across the country had now had a first injection. The regional age breakdown figures are is not expected to be published until Thursday.
In Friday's interview with ITV Anglia, Dr Thérèse Coffey, MP for Suffolk Coastal, spoke of how the East of England back on track with vaccinations. Dr Coffey said increased supplies of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will become available in rural areas.
The speedier rollout of the vaccine in the East comes as hospitals in the Anglia region have recorded more patients dying with coronavirus so far in January than during the peak month of the first wave in April 2020.
The NHS says 2,442 patients have died in January. There were 2,381 Covid patient deaths in the region in April.
Since the start of the pandemic more than 11,800 people have died with coronavirus in the Anglia region in hospitals, care homes, hospices and in their own homes. That total includes those who may not have had a positive test had had Covid-19 mentioned on their death certificate.
There are still twice as many people being treated in the region's hospitals with Covid-19 than during the first wave of the pandemic although there are signs that patient numbers are starting to decline.
The number of new cases of coronavirus is also continuing to fall in the Anglia region.
Positive tests for Covid-19 fell by more than a fifth between the week ending 13 January and the most recent week for which reliable data is available, the week ending on Wednesday 20 January.
There were 32,293 new cases in the week to 20 January compared to 40,813 the week before - a decline of 8,520 cases.
That represents 442 cases per 100,000 in the population in the Anglia region which is down from 559 per 100,000 the week before.
The regional infection rate is still higher than the rate for the whole of England of 420 and it is higher than the 120 cases per 100,000 that were being recorded in the week before the second lockdown in November 2020.
Bedfordshire is the county with the highest infection rate in the Anglia region with 540 cases per 100,000 in the latest weekly figure. The lowest rates are in Suffolk with 311 cases per 100,000 and Rutland with 200.
While cases are falling in most areas of the Anglia region there are a few exceptions where small rises were recorded in the week to 20 January. They were in Kettering (up 7%), South Cambridgeshire (up 7%), North Hertfordshire (up 2%) and Fenland in Cambridgeshire (up 0.2%)
Districts in the Anglia region with the highest infection rates in the week to 20 January
Tendring, Essex - 694 cases per 100,000
Harlow, Essex - 681 cases per 100,000
Luton, Bedfordshire - 673 cases per 100,000
Corby, Northamptonshire - 623 cases per 100,000
Stevenage, Hertfordshire - 617 cases per 100,000
Districts in the Anglia region with the lowest infection rates in the week to 20 January
Rutland - 200 cases per 100,000
East Cambridgeshire - 230 cases per 100,000
North Norfolk - 246 cases per 100,000
Mid Suffolk - 271 cases per 100,000
South Cambridgeshire - 282 cases per 100,000
Below is the latest update of the rolling seven-day rate of new cases of Covid-19 for every local authority area in the Anglia region.
The figures, for the seven days to Wednesday 20 January, are based on tests carried out in laboratories and in the wider community. The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.
The list is based on Public Health England data published on Sunday 24 January on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard. Data for the most recent four days (21-24 January) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.
Coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in each local authority area of the Anglia region in the week to Wednesday 20 January (with the previous week in brackets)
Tendring - 693.9 (936.80 - down 26% on the previous week
Harlow - 681.1 (934.9) - down 27%
Luton - 672.6 (755.7) - down 11%
Corby - 623.1 (713.1) - down 13%
Stevenage - 617.0 (693.3) - down 11%
Bedford - 615.7 (731.7) - down 16%
Northampton - 614.8 (712.8) - down 14%
Castle Point - 576.5 (891.8) - down 35%
Thurrock - 572.4 (923.5) - down 38%
Watford - 569.5 (726.9) - down 22%
Welwyn Hatfield - 563.2 (759.1) - down 26%
Broxbourne - 559.2 (797.7) -down 30%
Milton Keynes - 516.6 (635.7) - down 19%
Southend - 512.8 (709.4) - down 28%
Braintree - 504.6 (667.1) - down 24%
Peterborough - 502.8 (523.1) - down 4%
Colchester - 502.8 (633.8) - down 21%
Gt Yarmouth - 492.3 (522.5) - down 6%
Norwich - 491.6 (662.3) - down 26%
Hertsmere- 486.1 (686.2) - down 29%
North Hertfordshire - 479.1 (470.9) - up 2%
Basildon - 465.8 (638.9) - down 27%
Wellingborough - 450.4 (488.0) - down 8%
Kettering - 447.1 (416.6) - up 7%
Epping Forest - 438.2 (668.2) - down 34%
Chelmsford - 422.1 (681.7) - down 38%
Maldon - 418.9 (582.2) - down 28%
King's Lynn and West Norfolk - 416.2 (417.5) - down 0.3%
Fenland - 412.4 (411.4) - up 0.2%
Ipswich - 406.1 (600.4) - down 32%
Breckland - 401.5 (508.0) - down 21%
Central Bedfordshire - 396.3 (445.2) - down 11%
Rochford - 389.2 (562.0) - down 31%
Dacorum - 383.2 (471.7) - down 19%
East Hertfordshire - 377.3 (474.1) - down 20%
Broadland - 377.0 (514.6) - down 27%
Three Rivers - 365.4 (576.5) - down 37%
Uttlesford - 353.8 (439.3) - down 19%
Brentwood - 346.7 (505.1) - down 31%
South Norfolk - 338.6 (366.3) - down 8%
Daventry - 322.3 (414.2) - down 22%
St Albans - 321.3 (400.8) - down 20%
Cambridge - 313.3 (351.0) - down 11%
South Northamptonshire - 313.3 (424.4) - down 26%
East Northamptonshire - 312.1 (329.0) - down 5%
East Suffolk - 303.1 (423.3) - down 28%
Huntingdonshire - 301.2 (406.3) - down 26%
Babergh - 292.3 (414.0) - down 29%
West Suffolk - 283.2 (336.8) - down 16%
South Cambridgeshire - 281.6 (264.0) - up 7%
Mid Suffolk - 270.5 (310.9) - down 13%
North Norfolk - 246.1 (290.0) - down 15%
East Cambridgeshire - 230.4 (299.4) - down 23%
Rutland - 200.4 (235.4) - down 15%