COVID levels are still too high despite a “good week”, Nottingham public health officials have said.
Nottinghamshire continued to make vaccination progress as it navigated its way through week one of the Prime Ministers Coronavirus roadmap.
With schools now reopen, vaccine availability has become vital for health executives.
Dr John Brewin, Chief Executive for Nottinghamshire Healthcare, stated that weekly vaccinations had roughly doubled in recent weeks.
Dr Brewin said: “On average our vaccinations have gone from 40,000 people a week to 80,000.
“A significant number of those 80,000 will be second doses.
“We continue to focus on the highly vulnerable – those initial cohorts of over 60’s and 65’s.
“And in those cohorts overall we are above the national average for England which is a really pleasing position to be in.”
Officials also revealed that Nottinghamshire hospitals now have fewer covid patients compared to the initial wave in April for the first time since October.
The amount of people in Covid beds has shrunk from 468 to 274 over the last week.
Yet, officials warned that so long as Nottingham continued to sit above the national average for Coronavirus cases the public could not relax.
With the national average at around 60 per 100,000, Nottingham cases remain some way off that figure despite the progress that the county has made.
Jonathan Gribbin, director of Public Health for Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “I am incredibly encouraged that case rates have fallen.
“However, they still remain high, with places like Bassetlaw at 115 cases per 100,000.
“With rates at this kind of level we have still got a long way to go before we can expect to move from a national alert level of four to three.
“To be at level three we need rates to be at around 25, but in Nottingham we currently have rates pushing 100.
“In Nottinghamshire, a higher proportion of the nation work in retail and other areas required to work outside of the home.
“We also know in Nottinghamshire that among those testing positive there are a higher proportion than average that are holding down more than one job.
“That is an indication of households that are facing more pressure.”
The briefing concluded with officials saying that, despite steady progress, people must try not to rush forward or prematurely relax measures.
