A record number of people in the UK had their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday, latest government figures show.

Some 449,269 received their second jab, meaning 6,541,174 have now been fully vaccinated against coronavirus.

The previous high was 1 April, when 445,416 were given their second shot.

The figures also show 96,242 people had their first dose yesterday – one of the lowest tallies since data started being released in early January.

A total of 31,903,366 people have now had at least one jab.

It comes as the UK recorded another 60 coronavirus-related deaths and 3,150 cases in the latest 24-hour period.

That compares with 52 deaths and 3,402 cases this time last week.

In total, 127,040 people in the country have died within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test and there have been 4,365,461 lab-confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, the estimated COVID reproduction R number in England is unchanged at between 0.8 and 1.

It means that, on average, every 10 people who have coronavirus will infect between eight and 10 others.

Government scientists said the situation is too variable to produce a UK-wide R rate, but R is believed to be above 1 in some parts of the UK.

Coronavirus vaccines have prevented 10,400 deaths in people aged 60 and over, according to analysis by Public Health England (PHE).

The figures, which cover the period from 8 December to the end of March, suggest more than 9,000 likely fatalities were prevented in those over 80.

Also, Europe’s drugs regulator is reviewing possible links between blood clots and Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine.

The move comes after four serious cases of rare clots with low platelets were reported after the jab, one of which was fatal, according to the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The Johnson & Johnson (also known as Janssen) vaccine, which has proved 67% effective in preventing infection and completely effective at preventing hospital admissions and death from coronavirus during trials, is currently only used in the US.

The jab was was authorised in the EU last month but has not been rolled out yet, although this is expected in the next few weeks.

The vaccine stands out from others because only one shot is needed, rather than two.

The UK has ordered 30 million doses, but it has not yet been approved by the regulator.

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