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At the start of 2021, the UK coronavirus vaccine rollout was one of the fastest in the world.

While the European Union launched legal action over supply shortfalls and several member states battled widespread vaccine hesitancy, by 20 March, Britain was handing out more than 800,000 doses a day.

But now it has fallen to 13th in the rankings of percentage of population vaccinated, with just 63.8% double jabbed.

And EU countries such as Malta, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and Belgium have now overtaken, as their rollouts gain momentum and the UK loses pace.

Here Sky News looks at why the UK COVID vaccine rollout appears to have slowed down.

Children not included in UK count so far

The government’s chief medical officers only agreed to start offering the vaccine to all 12 to 15-year-olds on 13 September.

This means that until that rollout begins, a significant part of the population will not appear in vaccination statistics, putting the UK behind other countries who have been immunising schoolchildren such as Portugal and Ireland.

Dr Al Edwards, of the University of Reading’s school of pharmacy, described the concept of the UK’s rollout being ‘behind’ as “artificial”.

“In the UK we started vaccinating the really vulnerable groups first and that has had a really significant effect,” he told Sky News.

“The benefit of vaccination is different for different age groups,” he said.

“So any country that can vaccinate their most vulnerable 30% will have huge benefits because that will help prevent serious disease and death.

“When you get to between 30 and 60% those benefits become marginal.

“And then when you get to around 80%, you are really just arguing about the benefits, because they have significantly diminished.”

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Professor Andrew Preston, of the University of Bath’s department of biology and biochemistry, added that avoiding lockdowns and being able to live with the virus matters more than the numbers.

“The end game of the vaccine programme was never to vaccinate 100% of the population, it was to overcome the pandemic”, he told Sky News.

“Vaccinating children will boost the numbers, but it all depends on whether we can move back to a pre-COVID existence or not – whether that’s by vaccinating 20%, 40% or 60% of the population.

“We need to move away from just looking at the percentage vaccinated and instead at what we are actually achieving in terms of this moving towards being an endemic virus in future years.”

Tough restrictions on unvaccinated in Europe and elsewhere

Malta has vaccinated more of its population than any other country.

One of the reasons for this is its tough restrictions on those who are unvaccinated.

Since the beginning of July, people can only remove their face masks in public places if they’ve been double jabbed.

This can be proven by an official Maltese vaccine certificate or the EU ‘digital pass’.

Although France’s vaccine programme is still behind the UK’s, it has caught up significantly since the introduction of its ‘health pass’ in late July.

Its daily vaccination rate almost doubled in the weeks following, with nearly eight million getting their first dose in the first six weeks.

People now have to show a health pass to go to cafes, bars, restaurants, museums and other indoor spaces.

Similar digital passes have been introduced across Europe and beyond and have helped boost vaccination rates.

In the UK however, the government has rejected the idea of vaccine passports apart from in nightclubs and says it will only bring them in more widely if hospitalisations rise this winter.

“Other countries seem quite happy to use a more authoritarian system without batting an eyelid,” Professor Preston said.

“Italy, for example, have their green pass and it seems to be working, but here we have a very vocal minority defending those civil liberties.”

UK vaccine messaging is ‘wearing off’

Vaccine uptake in the UK is still lowest in the under-30s.

Only 48.9% of 18 to 24-year-olds and 51.8% of 25 to 29-year-olds had received two doses in England by 12 September.

Although they were last to be offered a jab, the government promised to have invited everyone over 18 to get their first by mid-July and shortened the gap between first and second from 12 to eight weeks.

Professor Sharifah Sekalala, an expert in public policy and global health at the University of Warwick, says the overall vaccine rollout has suffered from a lack of engagement with young people.

“Because of the way we banded ages at the beginning, and we reopened before they were vaccinated, people of university age feel as though their vaccinations are not as important as others,” she told Sky News.

“There has been very little consultation with them. They don’t see their GPs as much as the rest of the population, so very little community work has been done and we need to do more to address that,” she said.

Professor Sekalala also claims public messaging on the vaccine has slowed down in general, particularly with regards to underprivileged groups.

“If we’re comparing ourselves to Europe, we have massive social inequalities already, so more community work on vaccines is required,” she said.

“But it’s wearing off – it was very strong in the beginning – but now some people just think it’s all done because we’re not talking about it anymore.”

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Luis Piovesana: Family ‘devastated’ after body found in search for brother of judo Olympian

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7 hours ago

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March 3, 2025

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Luis Piovesana: Family 'devastated' after body found in search for brother of judo Olympian

A judo Olympian has said her family is “devastated” after the discovery of body in the search for her missing brother.

Lubjana Piovesana, 28, appealed for help to find her younger sibling, Luis, 26, on Saturday. He had not been seen since the early hours of Friday morning.

A body was found in the River Frome near Napier Road in Eastville, Bristol, at around 6pm today, Avon and Somerset Police said.

Formal identification is yet to take place, the force added.

In a post on Instagram, Ms Piovesana wrote: “Hello everyone, Luis has been found.

“We are completely devastated but he has passed away.

“I am grateful for everyone’s support. And I am so sorry this happened.

“Luis was my little brother and loved by everyone. I wish he could have seen the love from everyone. He will be remembered by us all.”

The post was signed off with a dove emoji.

Pics: Avon & Somerset Police
Image:
Luis Piovesana did not have any money or his mobile phone with him when he went missing, police said. Pics: Avon & Somerset Police

Mr Piovesana was last seen at around 3am on Friday at the Eastgate retail park, which is less than a 10-minute walk away from where the body was found.

He had travelled there by taxi from a venue in Little Ann Street, St Jude’s, a 10-minute drive away.

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The 26-year-old’s family spent the weekend searching for him, and asked people to check their sheds and gardens.

His partner, Laurin Bohler, said loved ones had travelled from Birmingham to help.

Mounted officers and police drones were also involved in the investigation.

Ms Piovesana competed for Team GB before switching to the Austrian team, and defeated British competitor Lucy Renshall in the women’s -63kg judo event at the Paris Olympics last year.

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Sophie Evans: Man jailed for life for murdering son’s girlfriend after school run

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16 hours ago

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March 3, 2025

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Sophie Evans: Man jailed for life for murdering son's girlfriend after school run

A man has been jailed for life for murdering his son’s girlfriend after she returned home from the school run.

Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police were called to an address on Bigyn Road in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, on 5 July last year.

Sophie Evans, 30, had sustained 72 separate injuries on the outside of the body, “all but three of them new injuries”.

Richard Jones, who is now 50, believed he was “being taken advantage of financially” by Ms Evans and his son, with whom she was in a relationship.

While the purpose of Jones’s visit was “purely normal”, he confronted her on that morning about his suspicions and Ms Evans’s reaction was such that Jones “lost [his] temper”.

He subjected Ms Evans to “gross violence” before ultimately strangling her and leaving the property to run errands, including ordering a new bank card and buying pastries from a bakery.

Richard Jones. Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police
Image:
Richard Jones. Pic: Dyfed-Powys Police

‘Last time on their school run’

During sentencing on Monday, the defendant kept his head bowed for most of the hearing.

He will have to serve at least 20 years behind bars before he can be considered for release by the parole board.

Swansea Crown Court heard Ms Evans was the mother of two young children.

Passing his sentence, Judge Geraint Walters said Ms Evans “had just taken her two children for the last time on their school run” prior to the attack.

“She wasn’t to know that when she parted company with them that morning,” he added.

The court heard the Jones believed he was being defrauded by Ms Evans and his son.

“There is clear evidence, that in the days leading up to this, that you had begun harbouring thoughts that Sophie Evans and your own son were in fact financially scamming you,” he said.

“What precisely brought about that view is difficult to determine.”

Judge Walters said Jones “lost [his] temper when [he] didn’t get the answer that [he] thought [he] deserved”.

He added that, having lost his temper, the defendant “subjected [Ms Evans] to gross violence over a period of time, before you ultimately extinguished her life by strangulation”.

The court was told in evidence that at the time of the attack, Ms Evans was wearing only a bath towel.

‘The rock of our family’

In a victim personal statement, Ms Evans’s sister Kerry Quinlan told the court she was “the rock of our family”.

She said Ms Evans was taken from them in a “senseless and cruel act”.

“Words cannot express fully how much of a loss this has been to her children,” she added.

“When they cry themselves to sleep wanting their mum, she isn’t there and never will be.”

Ms Quinlan added that Jones had “taken everything from us, all in the most despicable way possible”.

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Ms Evans’s partner at the time, and the defendant’s son, Jamie Davies, said in a victim personal statement, read on his behalf, that they had both “trusted” Jones, and that Ms Evans had even been planning the defendant’s 50th birthday.

“The thought of having to live my life without Sophie causes me extreme pain and heartache,” he added.

Prosecuting, Michael Jones KC said the offence was aggravated by the defendant’s previous convictions and the fact Ms Evans was murdered in her home.

In mitigation, David Elias KC said there was a “lack of premeditation”.

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Third man charged with murder over house fire in Bradford that killed mother and her three children

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17 hours ago

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March 3, 2025

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Third man charged with murder over house fire in Bradford that killed mother and her three children

A third man has been charged with murder over a house fire that killed a mother and her three children in Bradford last year.

Bryonie Gawith, 29, Denisty Birtle, nine, Oscar Birtle, five, and 22-month-old Aubree Birtle were killed in the fire on 21 August 2024.

Sharaz Ali, 39, from Bradford, has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

He will appear at Bradford Magistrates Court today.

Two other men, Mohammed Shabir, 44, and Calum Sunderland, 25, both of Keighley, are due to go on trial next week after pleading not guilty to murdering Ms Gawith and the three children, and attempting to murder Ms Gawith’s sister, Antonia.

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The children’s father Jonathan said at the time he was “absolutely distraught” by the “sudden loss” of his fiancee and “three beautiful children”.

“Bryonie and I were together for a long time, and we had a good life together. She was a beautiful woman and a loving mother to Oscar, Aubree and Denisty,” he said.

“I loved them with all my heart and if I had the chance, I would take their place in a heartbeat. I cannot imagine life without them.”

A family statement added: “Our B (Ms Gawith) was the life and soul of the party, music was a big part of her life, she loved music, singing and dancing, she would always be singing and dancing with Chuch (Denisty), Oggy (Oscar) and Strawberry (Aubree).

“B was always a really happy, joyful, bubbly beautiful woman, who cared for everyone and was loved by everyone, her kids were everything to her, her whole life.

“Oggy had the cheekiest smile, he was cheeky but he was a shy boy, Strawbs was shy and bashful with big blue eyes and blonde hair and Chuch was a beautiful, confident, outgoing and creative young girl.

“We are still trying to comprehend what has happened to our beautiful family. No words can describe how we are feeling and no words could ever make up for the profound loss we are now faced with.”

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