More than a quarter of young adults have now been fully-vaccinated from Covid in Suffolk and north Essex after it was announced teenagers aged 16 and 17 would be eligible for the jab.
Data released by NHS England revealed the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System, which is overseeing the rollout in the region, has administered 1,318,472 doses across all age groups up to August 1.
A total of 712,717 of these were first doses, while 605,755 were the second jab - meaning 75.2% of the adult population has received both vaccines.
Vaccine-to-be-offered-to-16-and-17-year-olds
There have been 19,758 adults aged between 18 and 24 - 26.8% - who have been fully-vaccinated in the region.
More than a third of people aged between 25 and 29 have had both doses, while more than half of those aged between 30 and 34 have been double-jabbed.
The age group with the highest proportion of people having both vaccines is between 75 and 79, which has reached nearly 100% of uptake levels.
Only 1,473 of children under 18 - just over 0.7% - have had both vaccines in Suffolk and north Essex.
However, that figure is likely to rise in the coming weeks after health secretary Sajid Javid revealed teenagers aged 16 and 17 will be soon invited for their vaccines.
The decision was made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and Mr Javid has asked the NHS to prepare vaccines "as soon as possible".
When asked when the first 16 or 17 year-olds would be able to get their vaccines, Mr Javid said: "It will be this month and so the way we’re going to roll this out, I think as people will expect, is working through the clinicians, working through GPs, through the primary care networks.
"Of course, there’s no compulsion in this, like all our vaccination offer, it’s something for people to consider and to decide if it’s something they want to do.
"They may want to speak to their parents and speak to others, they may want to speak to clinicians, and we’ll be making sure that they have all the information that they need."
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