More than 40,000 people aged 80 and above in the East of England have received their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Figures published by NHS England show 42,841 patients in the oldest age bracket have been administered both jabs.

East Anglian Daily Times: More than 40,000 over-80s in the East of England have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccineMore than 40,000 over-80s in the East of England have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine (Image: Copyright: Archant 2021)

Proportionately, more over-80s have been fully inoculated - 12pc of the 347,541-strong population - than in any other region.

In all, more than 147,000 over-80s in the East of England have received at least one dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.

However, in terms of the percentage given their first dose alone, the East is at the bottom of the pile on 30.1pc - compared to 48.8pc in the North East and Yorkshire.

And the region is lagging behind the rest of the country in terms of the overall number of doses administered since the vaccination programme began.

The region in which most doses have been given out is the Midlands, with 447,329, while 433,045 jabs have been administered in the North East and Yorkshire.

But London is only slightly ahead of the East, with 237,524 doses given.

Please do not attend a centre without an appointment or call your GP to arrange a jab - you will be contacted

NHS England does not provide specific figures for Norfolk and Waveney but, last week, it was revealed 30,000 people in the area had received their first dose of the vaccine.

That figure made up almost 40pc of people aged 80 and above - around 25,500 out of 65,000.

Frontline health and care workers are among the other priority groups being vaccinated in line with guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

East Anglian Daily Times: More than 40,000 over-80s in the East of England have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccineMore than 40,000 over-80s in the East of England have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine (Image: Copyright: Archant 2021)

Prof Nancy Fontaine, chief nurse at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH), said at the end of last week that 1,000 of its staff members had been vaccinated.

In the East, 104,687 people aged 80 and above have received only their first jabs.

Of those under 80 to have been vaccinated, 81,604 (1.4pc) have received an initial jab and 6,891 (0.1%) have also received their second.

East Anglian Daily Times: More than 40,000 over-80s in the East of England have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccineMore than 40,000 over-80s in the East of England have received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine (Image: PA)