The UK government has targeted 14 million vaccinations by mid-February, with the aim of providing initial doses to key workers, the clinically extremely vulnerable and the over-70s. To date, just over 2.8 million doses have been administered, approximately 20% of what would be required under a one-dose strategy (or 10% on the double-dose approach). If doses continue at the current rate of 1.4 million per week, that goal could be achieved by the middle of March, a month later than targeted. Of course, the rate ought to pick up as mass vaccination sites come on stream, and so mid-March may well be a pessimistic prediction. Meanwhile, early data from Germany and France suggest that it may take longer to administer the vaccine to the most vulnerable, and this may delay the reopening of the EU’s largest economies.

Subscribe to Fathom’s regular Recovery Watch newsletters for the latest insights into the impacts of COVID-19.