Coronavirus live news: all over 40s in England to be offered jab – as it happened
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More now on the vaccine being offered to over 40s in England, via PA Media:
It comes as the latest NHS England figures revealed more than 28.5 million people in England had received their first jab by April 28, nearly two thirds of the adult population.
The data, published on Thursday, also showed that nearly 12 million people had received their second doses, making them fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who received his first coronavirus vaccination at London's Science Museum on Thursday, said: The UK's vaccination programme has been a phenomenal success so far, with more than 47 million doses administered and one of the highest uptake rates in the world.
Building on this excellent progress we are now opening up vaccinations to 40 and 41 year olds.
I got my jab yesterday and I urge everybody in these age groups to book a jab as soon as possible to protect yourself and your loved ones from this dreadful disease."
Mr Hancock and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also announced on Friday that the UK will host a global summit in 2022 alongside a major scientific coalition aimed at supporting plans to accelerate vaccine development in response to any future pandemics.
The summit, which will be in partnership with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), aims to raise investment from the international community to support the UK and Cepi's goal of slashing vaccine development time to 100 days - about a third of the time that it took the world to develop a coronavirus jab.