More than four in 10 adults in Cheshire and Merseyside have now had their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, NHS England data reveals.

The data, which runs to February 28, shows that 852,040 first doses have been delivered in the region — out of a population of 2,040,921 — representing 42 per cent of the population.

This represents an increase of five per cent compared to last week, when 37 per cent of residents had been reached.

In Cheshire, it further boosts confidence that everyone will be jabbed by the end of July — a week after a key NHS official said she was confident of meeting the target.

Clare Watson, Accountable Officer of NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group — the body running the roll-out — said on February 24: "We are confident in terms of capacity, in terms of primary care network sites, and in terms of vaccination centres that we have the right capacity overall.

"The big challenge is cohort 10, which is 16-49-year-olds by July 31. We understand that that cohort is going to be age-stratified and risk-stratified in the coming weeks because they do not want to open it up in one go.

"We are on track to deliver that. We have got great workers and lots of capacity to vaccinate patients.

"They will all be offered their vaccine by the end of July."

In the older age categories, which were prioritised by the government, 95.4 per cent of Cheshire's over-65 group have had dose one — ahead of the Cheshire and Merseyside average of 93.6 per cent.

Only Warrington and St Helens' CCG areas are ahead of Cheshire in this region.

Despite the rapid progress in vaccination, health chiefs are still keen to remind residents that lockdown restrictions are in force — and must be followed even if you have had both doses of your vaccine.