Weekly England and Wales Covid deaths at lowest since start of 2021

But the rate stood at almost 91 per cent on February 11, according to the most up-to-date estimate.

The estimate for Wales is one in six, up from one in nine; for Northern Ireland it is one in six, up from one in eight; and for Scotland it is one in eight, up from one in nine.

But the ONS said it estimated the number of deaths actually occurring during this week, rather than those registered over this period, was between 11,989 and 14,831.

As well as through vaccination, antibodies are also made in the blood when someone catches and recovers from the virus. But the length of time antibodies remain at detectable levels in the blood is not fully known, given that studies have shown they can fade after a few months.

A further 6,385 new Covid cases and 315 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported across the United Kingdom as of 9am on Wednesday.A total of 20,703,615 people have now received the first dose of a vaccine.

It comes after Government analysis showed a single dose of the coronavirus vaccines being rolled out in the United Kingdom cut hospital rates in the elderly by 80 per cent.

Across Scotland, 1,661,879 people have received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 92,550 have received their second dose.

A further 204 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 83,733, NHS England said on Wednesday.

The figures suggest the impact of the vaccination programme on the number of deaths in that age group began to show in the number of mortalities from mid to late January.

The latest figures also show there have been 226 new positive cases, out of 1,983 individuals tested.

Overall, there were 13,809 deaths from all causes registered in the week ending February 19, a 10.0% fall from the previous seven days.

All areas of England recorded a week-on-week fall within the variety of Covid-19 deaths, with the South East seeing the best quantity with 636 - down 35 per cent from the earlier week.

The figures cowl deaths of care house residents in all settings, not simply in care properties.

Eastern England saw the second highest number: 566, down 30% from 808.

The equivalent estimate for 75 to 79 year-olds is 24.9%, while for 70 to 74 year-olds it is 16.6%.

In Northern Ireland, the ONS uses different age groups due to small sample sizes, and estimates 17.6% of people aged 70 and over were likely to have tested positive for antibodies in this period.