BORIS Johnson has described the latest coronavirus daily death-toll figure for the UK, a record at 1,820, as “appalling” but warned “there will be more to come”.

UK Government data up to January 19 showed of the 5,070365 jabs given in the UK so far, 4,609,740 were first doses, up 343,163 on the previous day’s figures, while 460,625 were second doses, up 3,759. The seven-day rolling average of first doses given in the UK now stands at 281,490.

In Scotland, 309,909 people had received the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by 8.30 this morning, an increase of 25,327 on the previous day. Some 4,170 people have received the second dose, an increase of 284.

Based on the latest figures, an average of 399,625 first doses of vaccine would be needed each day to meet the Government’s target of 15 million first doses by February 15. So, on the current roll-out, the total is short by more than 110,000 a day.

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The 1,820 people who have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday, brings the UK total to 93,290.

Describing the latest death numbers as “appalling,” the Prime Minister said: “There will be more to come because what we’re seeing is the result of the wave of the new variant that we saw just before Christmas on December 18, or thereabouts.”

He insisted the vaccination programme remained “on track” despite “constraints on supply”.

He told reporters: “We’re going absolutely as fast as we can and it is literally a race against time, a race to protect the elderly and the vulnerable in the context of what is still a very, very tough pandemic. There are still tough weeks to come.”

The latest grim statistics appeared as Sir Patrick Valance, the UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, gave a stark warning about the strain the pandemic was putting on hospitals.

“This is very, very bad at the moment, with enormous pressure, and in some cases it looks like a war zone in terms of the things that people are having to deal with,” he said.

But Sir Patrick insisted there was “light at the end of the tunnel” in the form of the vaccination programme, which has so far seen 4.6m people receive a first jab.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 110,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

The Government also said that, as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 38,905 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK. This brings the total number of cases in the UK to 3,505,754.

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Downing St responded to reports from Israel that one dose of the Pfizer vaccine might be much less effective than had been previously thought. Reports emerging from Israel have suggested that efficacy from the first dose from Pfizer could be as low as 33%.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “As we set out at the time when we said we would be moving the first vaccine dose followed by another in 12 weeks, it remains our priority to protect as many people as possible from the virus.

“That is why we took that decision. That decision was based on a review of the data available, which showed that the Pfizer vaccine was 89% effective in protection against Covid between 15 to 21 days after the first dose.

“It remains the case that the chief medical officer and the JCVI recommend offering one dose first and another dose up to 12 weeks after.

“But, again, I would point to what the medical experts and scientific advisers have said previously about the fact that once you’ve received the first dose, it takes some time for your body to build up immunity.

“You don’t have immunity immediately after taking the first dose, but again, we’ve set out why we are doing the dosages in the way we are, and that’s to protect as many people as possible as quickly as possible.”

Asked why the vaccination rate had started to fall in recent days, No 10 said the hold-up was due to the “complex” nature of manufacturing the inoculations.

The spokesman said: “Supply is the limiting factor, as the Vaccines Minister[Nadhim Zahawi] made clear earlier this week, which is why we continue to work closely with the companies.

“You’ve had representatives from the NHS say they are ready and can deliver more vaccine if we are able to increase the supply. That is exactly what we are doing over the course of this month and into next month.”

Pressed on why the supply was being hindered, the spokesman explained: “As we and the companies have said previously, producing and manufacturing a vaccine is a complex process.

“But you’ve seen that we have continued to ramp-up the programme of vaccinating the public. You’ve seen that throughout December and January.

“It is obviously the case with the Oxford vaccine being approved by the MHRA, it does make it easier to get it out to care homes and to other areas, given the slight ease of logistics.”