Dewsbury's Baroness Betty Boothroyd encouraging people to get Covid-19 vaccine

The 91-year-old former MP, who was born and brought up in Dewsbury, told the Cambridge University Hospital’s NHS Trust, where she received her jab, that having the vaccination was ‘absolutely the right thing to do’.

She added that she had been excited about coming to the hospital.

The government has published figures which show the number of people who have received the vaccine between December 8 and December 20 in the UK is 616,933.

In line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), vaccines have been administered to care home residents, those aged 80 and over and health and social care staff through over 500 vaccination sites across the UK.

The vaccine roll-out in care homes in England began on Wednesday December 16.

Larger care homes with 50 to 70 beds will be prioritised first, with around 2,900 care homes of this size in England.

Over the coming weeks and months, the rate of vaccination will increase as more doses become available and the programme continues to expand, with more vaccines being delivered direct to care homes.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: "Thanks to a huge effort from the NHS to overcome significant logistical challenges, 616,933 people across the UK have had their jab of the coronavirus vaccine.

"In just over three weeks, the NHS in every part of the UK has already set up hundreds of vaccination sites to ensure those most in need can receive their jab as quickly as possible.

"This is just the beginning and we are continually expanding our vaccination programme to help everyone get back to normal in the future."

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was the first vaccine to be authorised for use by the medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Patients require two doses of the vaccine for the vaccine to be at its most effective.

Vaccine Deployment Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: "I am extremely proud the UK is the first country in the world to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and protect the most vulnerable from this awful disease.

"The NHS across the UK is working incredibly hard to scale up the vaccination programme as fast as they can to make sure everyone on the priority list can get their vaccine easily."