Covid vaccinations increase and deaths fall in encouraging news for Devon

Just under 40 per cent of Devon and Cornwall's adult population have had their first Covid-19 vaccine.

Across Devon as a whole, 39.1 per cent have had the first jab, and the figure for the East Devon local authority area is the same.

The statistics, which provide the position as of February 21, show that there have been 404,574 vaccines delivered in Devon, with 391,325 of them being the first dose. Just under 50,000 vaccinations were carried out in the last week.

The figures for Devon, which will have risen in the last few days, are by far the highest number of vaccinations for any of the regions within the South West.

The statistics show that as of Sunday, of the 78,744 over 80s, 57,979 of those aged 75-79 and 75,449 of those aged 70-74 had received their first dose – 99.1 per cent of the total cohort.

A total of 45,982 of those aged 65-69 had their first dose – 60.9 per cent of the cohort – while 133,171 people aged under 65 – 18.7 per cent of the cohort – have had their first dose.

Of the total population of Devon, 13,429, people, 1.3 per cent, have also had their second dose.

Every single local authority in Devon and Cornwall has seen at least a quarter of its residents receive one dose of the vaccine, including under 18s.

The latest figures on coronavirus deaths

Meanwhile, figures released earlier this week showed that the number of Covid-related deaths in Devon and Cornwall had fallen by 25 per cent, to the lowest level since the beginning of 2021.

The figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) which relate to the week of February 6 to 12, but registered up to February 20, show that 75 of the 347 deaths registered in the two counties had Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate.

Deaths in Devon have dropped nearly 40 per cent week-on-week.

The 75 deaths is the lowest total for five weeks, but is still the eighth highest weekly total since the pandemic began.

But the numbers across the two counties as a whole have now fallen for four weeks in a row as the ONS figures see the impact of the third national lockdown due to the time lag between infections and deaths, as well as the start of the vaccine effect following the rollout that began at the end of 2020.

Of the 75 deaths registered in week 6 (Feb 6-12), there were four in East Devon.

33 of the deaths occurred in care homes, 39 in hospitals, and three at home.