Preliminary data shows virus claimed the lives of 41 hospital patients

Britain has smashed its vaccine record yet again with 874,000 jabs given in just one day – as preliminary Covid data shows 41 people have died after testing positive in England and Wales. 

The jab figure recorded yesterday – which covers first and second doses – marks the second day in a row of record-beating figures, with 711,156 vaccines given on Friday.

More than half of all adults have now had at least one vaccine dose, with the number equivalent to the entire adult populations of Liverpool, Southampton and Oxford combined. 

Of the 874,000 recorded yesterday, 756,873 were in England alone – and 686,424 of England’s jabs were first doses. 

Meanwhile, 35 people have died in hospital in England alone – including a 37-year-old with no underlying health conditions, NHS England data has revealed.

In Wales, a further six people died after testing positive for the virus. Scotland recorded no new deaths.

The 41 hospital deaths seen across England and Wales is down from the 61 reported last Sunday.

Wales has seen 196 positive tests, while 532 cases were reported in Scotland. England’s case figure will be revealed later today. 

Britain’s all settings figures – which cover deaths in hospitals, care homes and the wider community – will be published on the Government’s Covid-19 dashboard at 4pm.  

In other developments: 

• Policing minister Kit Malthouse has been accused of breaching Covid-19 protocol at the Home Office after he tested positive at his place of work; 
• EU doubled down on its threat to block jab exports to the UK – as the British Government warned Brussels that ‘the world is watching’;  
• Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman defended Nicola Sturgeon, claiming the First Minister has ‘led by example’ while accusing her critics of playing ‘partisan politics’ amid growing calls for her resignation;
• Plans for ‘Alfresco April’ gathered pace with Marston’s brewery saying 700 of its pubs would open on April 12;
• Experts predicted a £11.5 billion wedding bonanza once restrictions eased, while some hairdressers reporting full appointment books until early summer; 
•  Japan announced that in a ‘great sacrifice’, international fans would be barred from attending the Tokyo Olympics later this year.

Britain’s triumphant vaccine figures come at the end of a week which saw the highest number of doses delivered since the vaccination programme began, NHS England said.

Chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said: ‘The speed and precision of the NHS vaccination campaign has been on full display this weekend and yesterday NHS staff across England administered a remarkable 27 jabs a second. 

‘In just one day we vaccinated the equivalent of the entire adult populations of Liverpool, Southampton and Oxford combined.

‘When my turn came earlier this week I was delighted to get my first dose and we have a strong supply of vaccine for the coming week too, so if you are aged 50 plus, don’t delay! 

‘Now is a great time to book your NHS Covid jab – it’s quick and efficient, safe and effective, and painless.’

As Britain’s coronavirus vaccination drive continues, the EU today doubled down on its threat to block jab exports to the UK – as the British Government warned Brussels that ‘the world is watching’. 

European Commissioner for financial services Mairead McGuinness said ‘everything is on the table’ and the EU’s focus is on ‘protecting our citizens’.

She also said there is a need for both sides to ‘calm down’ amid the escalating war of words over vaccine supply but her decision to repeat Ursula von der Leyen’s threat is unlikely to dampen tensions. 

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace warned Brussels that going ahead with an export ban would ‘damage the EU’s reputation globally’.

He said the EU is ‘under tremendous political pressure’ because of its botched vaccine rollout and insisted ‘the rest of the world is looking at the Commission about how it conducts itself’.

Tensions with the EU continued to increase as the UK yesterday smashed its record for the number of daily inoculations.

In a dramatic move, Ms von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, threatened to join forces with the French and German governments to hold hostage more than 19 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine due to be shipped to the UK over the coming weeks.

The EU continues to face criticism over the glacial speed of its vaccination programme and many of its members have been plunged into fresh lockdowns as Covid-19 cases soared.

As Britain’s vaccination numbers continue to saw, Professor Jeremy Brown – a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation – today said social distancing rules will need to be kept in place in the UK until ‘everybody’ has been vaccinated. 

Prof Brown said ‘some degree of social distancing or protection is going to be required’ until the whole nation has had the jab. 

He said the rules will need to be retained because people who have not had the jab could still be at ‘high risk of disease’. 

The Government has not committed to a date for lifting all social distancing rules.

But under Boris Johnson’s roadmap ministers have committed to updating advice on social distancing between friends and family no later than step three in the strategy, set for May 17. 

Prof Brown was asked during an interview on Sky News what the purpose of a coronavirus vaccine programme is if people are still required to follow mask and social distancing rules.

He replied: ‘Essentially, until we can suppress infection going around the country, which means vaccinating everybody, then some degree of social distancing or protection is going to be required, just because even if a small proportion of people have not been vaccinated or where the vaccine has not worked very well, we have a high risk of disease if we have no control of infection and the control of infection comes in once a very high proportion of the country have been vaccinated. 

‘We now know that the vaccine does prevent transmission to a degree but that only works on a population level once you have vaccinated a high proportion of the population, so that’s phase two of the vaccine programme.’ 

Prof Brown said a ‘very large number’ of at-risk people could develop a ‘serious’ Covid-19 infection if restrictions are lifted too quickly. 

Meanwhile, policing minister Kit Malthouse has been accused of breaching Covid-19 protocol at the Home Office after he tested positive at his place of work.

Mr Malthouse took a lateral flow test on his way into work last Monday – but the minister reportedly went into the Home Office without waiting for the results.

According to the Sunday Times, Mr Malthouse was asymptomatic and was alerted to his positive test result 30 minutes after taking the test. 

The 54-year-old immediately asked those working in his department to wear masks and drove himself home to self-isolate after receiving the diagnosis.

In January, Mr Malthouse told LBC that it is ‘preposterous’ to think anyone would be ‘ignorant’ of the rules during the third national lockdown.

He said: ‘It seems preposterous that after 10 months anyone could be ignorant to the rules.

‘Also, it is frankly ignorant to the perilous state that we find ourselves in with the NHS rammed to capacity, with numbers of infections rising on a daily basic and sadly deaths following them.’

Government guidance states that workers must remain socially distanced at work until they receive their negative test result.