Dr. Halmos discusses the data from a study examining seroconversion rates following COVID-19 vaccination among patients with cancer and underscores the need for novel vaccination or passive immunization strategies for immunosuppressed cohorts.
Welcome to OncLive On Air! Im your host today, Jessica Hergert.
OncLive On Air is a podcast from OncLive, which provides oncology professionals with the resources and information they need to provide the best patient care. In both digital and print formats, OncLive covers every angle of oncology practice, from new technology to treatment advances to important regulatory decisions.
In todays episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Balazs Halmos, MD, director of Thoracic Oncology and director of Clinical Cancer Genomics at Montefiore Medical Center, to discuss his recent study that examined seroconversion rates following COVID-19 vaccination among patients with cancer.
COVID-19 is known to adversely impact patients with cancer; as such, prophylactic measures are needed. Halmos and his colleagues utilized a validated antibody assay against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and determined a high seroconversion rate of 94% in 200 patients with cancer in New York City who had received full dosing with 1 of the COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized by the FDA.
Compared with the rate observed in those with solid tumors, significantly lower rates were observed in patients with hematologic malignancies, at 98% vs 85%, respectively. Additionally, recipients of highly immunosuppressive treatment like anti-CD20 therapies and those who underwent stem cell transplantation also had lower rates, at 70% and 73%, respectively. Notably, patients who received immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy or hormonal therapies were found to have high seroconversion following vaccination, at 97% and 100%, respectively.
In our exclusive interview, Dr. Halmos further discussed the data yielded from the study and underscored the need for novel vaccination or passive immunization strategies for immunosuppressed cohorts.
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Coronado Fourth of July organization (CFOJ) today announced the addition of a walk-up COVID-19 vaccination site that will be located at Spreckels Park on Orange Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets from 11 am to 2 pm on Saturday, July 3, 2021. The iconic Coronado Fourth of July Parade will take place Saturday, July 3 from 10 am to 12:30 pm. The vaccination clinic is part of the organizations commitment to ensuring a safe and healthy Fourth of July weekend celebration.
Sharp Healthcares COVID-19 Team has delivered over 600,000 vaccines to people in San Diego County, and has volunteered to be part of the Fourth of July offerings provided by CFOJ this year. They will also have a contingent marching in the parade.
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We are appreciative of Sharps efforts to keep our community safe. We are also elated to be able to hold the Fourth of July Parade, a treasured annual Coronado tradition again this year, says Todd Tanghe, President of the nonprofit Coronado Fourth of July organization. COVID-19 meant no parade last yearthe first time in 72 yearsand we are happy to get back to normal for 2021. We will be following all County Health guidelines, and ask that those who are not fully vaccinated to wear masks.
The Coronado Fourth of July Parade is part of a weekend of activities provided by CFOJ, including the U.S. Navy Leap Frogs at 2 pm and fireworks over Glorietta Bay at 9 pm on July 4.
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Coronado Fourth of July organization is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) created to ensure the Coronado Fourth of July traditions are continued annually. These activities are not held by the City of Coronado, but are produced by an all-volunteer philanthropic effort to create memories and experiences for the Coronado community and beyond. Visitors from around the country and the world join together each Fourth of July weekend in Coronado to celebrate the founding of our Nation.
For more information visit www.coronadofourthofjuly.com or facebook.com/coronadofourthofjuly
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A human genetic mechanism hijacked by SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic, to help it spread also makes it vulnerable to a new class of drug candidates, a new study finds.
Led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, a team showed that coronavirus reproduction in infected human cells requires chemical changes made by the human protein METTL3 to RNA, a key form of genetic material. Additional human proteins involved in the recognition of modified RNA, YTHDF1 and YTHDF3, were also found to be important to the process.
Published online in Genes and Development on June 24, the study showed for the first time that a molecular inhibitor of METTL3, designed by STORM Therapeutics Ltd and called STM2457, dramatically reduced in cell cultures the replication of both pandemic SARS-CoV-2 and, a less severe, seasonal coronavirus, HCoV-OC43, one cause of the common cold.
Our results represent the first time a chemical inhibitor of METTL3 has been shown to have an antiviral effect for coronaviruses, or any virus, says senior study author Ian J. Mohr, PhD, professor in the Department of Microbiology at NYU Langone Health. This represents a necessary step in drug development, identifies new targets, and reveals an unexpected strategy to halt the coronavirus lifecycle.
The current study builds on a growing understanding of gene regulation. It has long been established that sequences of As, Gs, Cs, and Ts, the molecular letters in the DNA code of genes, are copied into messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that carry the information to the machinery that determines which proteins are made. Only recently has the importance of chemical modification to mRNAs become apparent in the control of protein production. In some instances, this process is controlled by the attachment of a methyl group (one carbon and three hydrogens) to an RNA chain, which turns that genetic message off.
Crucially, coronaviruses that replicate inside human cells are known to encode the complete set of their genetic instructions (their genomes) in RNA chains, raising the question of whether human RNA modification enzymes, including those that attach methyl groups, could impact the production of viral proteins that enable them to multiply.
Past work in Mohrs lab had revealed the enzymes that determine whether an A (adenosine), one of the chemical letters making up mRNA, is methylated at the N6 position (m6A) is important for replication of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), with regulation by human m6A enzymes of mRNAs shaping the immune response to that virus.
In the current study, the research team showed for the first time that the reproduction of SARS-CoV-2 and HCoV-OC43 requires the action, not only of the human enzyme that installs the m6A methylation on RNA, METTL3, but human proteins that bind to this unusual arrangement of methylated RNA, YTHDF1 and YTHDF3. Remarkably, the researchers also found that the RNA genomes of both study coronaviruses contained this m6A modification.
For the next step, the NYU Langone team partnered with UK-based STORM Therapeutics, which had run a medicinal chemistry program to develop a compound that best inhibited the action of METTL3. The current study compared the effects of the METTL3 inhibitor STM2457 and an inactive control compound, STM2120, on cultures of human lung cells infected with the seasonal coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2. The researchers then used an imaging technology to track viral infection in thousands of cells treated with different doses of STM2457.
Compared with the same concentration of the inactive control compound, the highest dose of STM2457 reduced the number of HCoV-OC43infected cells in culture by more than 80 percent, while the same dose of STM2457 reduced SARS-CoV-2 reproduction by more than 90 percent. Further experiments revealed that STM2457 reduced viral RNA and protein levels, but not by affecting the same human immune response mRNAs previously found to be important for HCMV.
The inhibition of coronaviruses by this molecule is really encouraging, but understanding exactly why coronaviruses need m6A RNA modification is important and might enable the design of compounds that work even better, says study first author Hannah Burgess, PhD, an assistant research scientist in the Department of Microbiology.
Moving forward, the research team plans to further investigate precisely how m6A modification influences virus and host gene expression in cells infected with pandemic or seasonal coronaviruses and whether STM2457 can interfere with coronavirus replication and prevent severe disease outcomes in non-human animals.
We went into it hoping to learn about the differences between the biology of innocuous and pandemic coronavirus infections, says co-corresponding author Angus C. Wilson, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Microbiology. If anything, we found that both share a dependence upon the m6A methylation machinery. That creates the hope that inhibiting METTL3 may also be useful against future pandemic coronaviruses.
Along with Dr. Mohr, Dr. Burgess, and Dr. Wilson, study authors at NYU Langone Health were Letitia Thompson, Puthankalam Srinivas Kalanghad, Rebecca Grande, Elizabeth Vink, and Kenneth Stapleford in the Department of Microbiology; along with Daniel Depledge and Jonathan Abebe in the Department of Medicine. Other authors were Wesley Blackaby, Alan Hendrick, and Mark Albertella at STORM Therapeutics Ltd, of Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Tony Kouzarides at The Gurdon Institute and Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, in Cambridge.
The study was supported by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grants AI152543, AI073898, and AI151358; National Institute of General Medical Sciences grant GM056927; National Institutes of Health grants T32 AI100853 and T32 AI007180; and Perlmutter Cancer Center Support Grant P30CA016087.
Greg WilliamsPhone: 212-404-3500gregory.williams@nyulangone.org
Oregon health officials announced 233 new coronavirus cases Wednesday and two new deaths.
The Oregon Health Authority reported just under 1,700 cases during the week ending Sunday, the agency said, the lowest number in nine months and a 4.7% drop from the previous week.
About 38,143 adults need to get at least one shot for Oregon to reach the 70% threshold Gov. Kate Brown set for removing all COVID-19 restrictions, the agency said.
As of Wednesday, 68.9% of Oregonians 18 and over have received at least one shot, compared to 65.6% of all Americans in that age group, according to federal health data. While exceeding the national rate, Oregons vaccination rate falls behind Washington and California. At least 73% of adults in both states have received at least one shot, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SEE STATE AND COUNTY COVID-19 TRENDS
Vaccines: Oregon reported 8,306 newly administered doses, which includes 4,465 Tuesday and the remainder from previous days.
Where the new cases are by county: Baker (7), Benton (4), Clackamas (14), Columbia (3), Coos (8), Crook (3), Curry (5), Deschutes (14), Douglas (11), Grant (1), Harney (2), Hood River (1), Jackson (18), Jefferson (4), Josephine (6), Lane (13), Lincoln (3), Linn (14), Malheur (2), Marion (29), Morrow (2), Multnomah (27), Polk (8), Umatilla (7), Union (1), Wasco (10), Washington (12) and Yamhill (4).
Who died: Oregons 2,758th death connected to the coronavirus is a 27-year-old Lane County woman who tested positive June 20 and died June 21 at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at Riverbend.
The 2759th death is a 67-year-old Marion County man who tested positive May 30 and died June 20 at Salem Hospital.
Both had underlying medical conditions.
Hospitalizations: 155 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 are hospitalized, up nine from Tuesday. That includes 34 people in intensive care, down one from Tuesday.
Since it began: Oregon has reported 207,333 confirmed or presumed infections and 2,759 deaths, among the lowest per capita numbers in the nation. To date, the state has reported 4,326,249 vaccine doses administered, fully vaccinating 2,115,776 people and partially vaccinating 244,961 people.
-- Fedor Zarkhin
The latest:
Ontario's soon-to-be top doctor says he's hopeful the COVID-19 pandemic will move to "an endemic state, where we can try to get back to normal," this fall.
Dr. Kieran Moore said Thursday the government is planningto restore basic public health functionsthat were cast aside during the pandemic, while continuing to trace contacts of new cases of the virus, identify emerging variants and respond to outbreaks in schools, jails, long-term care homes and other congregate settings.
"It's very important that all Canadians realize it's only 10 per cent of the globe that's going to have access to vaccines as we speak," said the province's incoming chief medical officer of health.
"We're so fortunate in Ontario and Canada to be leaders in being immunized. But 90 per cent of the globe is not immunized, and that's where the virus continues to circulate, where mutations will develop, and any returning traveller could bring the virus back into Canada at any given time."
Moore answered questions alongside Dr. David Williams, who will passhim the chief medical officer of health torchSaturday.
The pair celebrated Ontario's vaccination rate while cautioning that people shouldn't let their guarddown too quickly. More than 76 per cent of adults have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and about 29 per cent have both doses, they said.
Those rates are higher than the thresholds the government said Ontario would need to meetto move into Stage 3 of its reopening plan. But the province will start with Stage 2 on June 30, just two days earlier than planned.
"We'd rather be taking slow strides forward than trip going out the door," Williams said.
Ontarioofficialsreported six deaths and 296 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday.
-From CBC News, last updated at 7:25p.m. ET
WATCH | Cross-Canada push for vaccines:
As of 8:25p.m.Thursday,Canada had reported 1,411,652 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 9,349 considered active. A CBC News tally of deaths stood at 26,192. More than 34million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far across the country, according toCBC's vaccine tracker.
Nova Scotiareported five new cases Thursday, as New Brunswickreported two new cases, while no new cases were reported inNewfoundland and Labrador. P.E.I. did not report any cases as of late Thursday.
Nova Scotia's top doctor on Thursday alsodefended his decision to keep the border with New Brunswick closed, one that prompted protesters to blockade the main border crossing for almost 24 hours. Dr. Robert Strang said New Brunswick is taking a risk by opening to travellers from the rest of Canada, one that he isn't willing to take in Nova Scotia.
InQuebec, where a coroner's inquest into COVID-19 deaths in long-term care is ongoing, health officials reported 96 new casesThursday and four more deaths, though they said none of the deaths happened in the previous 24 hours.
In the Prairie provinces,Manitobareported two deaths and 106 new cases Thursday.
Saskatchewanreported 52 new cases Thursday, as itopened second dose eligibility to anyone who got a first dose at least 28 days ago.
InAlberta, health officials reported 73 new cases and one additional death, as British Columbia reported 75 new COVID-19 cases and three additional deaths.
Across the North, there were no new cases reported inNunavutor theNorthwest Territories, asYukon reported 18 new cases on Thursday.
-From The Canadian Press and CBC News, last updated at 9:05 p.m. ET
As of late afternoon Thursday, more than 179.7 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to data published on the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracking tool. The reportedglobal death toll stood at more than 3.8 million.
InEurope, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the continent is"on thin ice" in its battle againstCOVID-19,as EUleaders agreed that vaccinations should be sped up to fight thehighly contagious delta variant.
Also Thursday, Britain added 17 countries and territories, including Malta, the Balearic Islands and Madeira, to its "green" list of safe travel destinations amid pressure from airlines and travel companies to relaxrestrictions. People traveling to those destinations will no longer have to self-isolate for 10 days upon return.
Coronavirus infections continue to soar in Russia, with authorities reporting 20,182 new cases Thursday and 568 further deaths. Both tallies are the highest since late January.
Danish health officials are urging soccer fans who attended the Euro 2020 game between Denmark and Belgium in Copenhagen on June 17 to be tested after they found at least three people who afterward tested positive with the delta variant.
In Africa,officials said Thursday that the continent was facing adevastating resurgence of COVID-19 infections whose peak will surpass that of earlier waves.
"The third wave is picking up speed, spreading faster, hitting harder," said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
The delta variant"may have played a very significant role" in the third wavein at least 20 countries across Africa, said the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong.
More and more health centres are saying they are overwhelmed, and African countries urgently need vaccines to help battle the disease, he said.
In theMiddle East,Israel's government has postponed the planned reopening of the country to vaccinated tourists over concerns about the spread of the infectious delta variant of the coronavirus. Israel was set to reopen its borders to vaccinated visitors on July 1, after having largely closed the country during the pandemic.But after a rise in infections, the government willbe pushing that date until Aug. 1.
In theAmericas,Mexico will donate over 400,000 AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses on Thursday to the so-called Northern Triangle Central American nations of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, the Mexican foreign ministry said.
Officials offered new promises Thursday that Haiti would soon receive its first vaccine doses, as the country of more than 11 million people reels from a spike in coronavirus cases and COVID-19 deaths that have saturated hospitals.
In theAsia-Pacificregion,Australia's most-populous state, New South Wales, reported a double-digit rise in new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 for the third straight day as officials fight to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious delta variant.
Indonesia recorded its biggest daily increase in cases Thursday with 20,574 new infections.
-From Reuters and The Associated Press, last updated at 9:05p.m. ET
Nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. now are in people who werent vaccinated, a staggering demonstration of how effective the shots have been and an indication that deaths per day now down to under 300 could be practically zero if everyone eligible got the vaccine.
An Associated Press analysis of available government data from May shows that breakthrough infections in fully vaccinated people accounted for fewer than 1,200 of more than 853,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations. Thats about 0.1%.
And only about 150 of the more than 18,000 COVID-19 deaths in May were in fully vaccinated people. That translates to about 0.8%, or five deaths per day on average.
The AP analyzed figures provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC itself has not estimated what percentage of hospitalizations and deaths are in fully vaccinated people, citing limitations in the data.
Among them: Only about 45 states report breakthrough infections, and some are more aggressive than others in looking for such cases. So the data probably understates such infections, CDC officials said.
Still, the overall trend that emerges from the data echoes what many health care authorities are seeing around the country and what top experts are saying.
Earlier this month, Andy Slavitt, a former adviser to the Biden administration on COVID-19, suggested that 98% to 99% of the Americans dying of the coronavirus are unvaccinated.
And CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said on Tuesday that the vaccine is so effective that nearly every death, especially among adults, due to COVID-19, is, at this point, entirely preventable. She called such deaths particularly tragic.
Deaths in the U.S. have plummeted from a peak of more than 3,400 day on average in mid-January, one month into the vaccination drive.
About 63% of all vaccine-eligible Americans those 12 and older have received at least one dose, and 53% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. While vaccine remains scarce in much of the world, the U.S. supply is so abundant and demand has slumped so dramatically that shots sit unused.
Ross Bagne, a 68-year-old small-business owner in Cheyenne, Wyoming, was eligible for the vaccine in early February but didnt get it. He died June 4, infected and unvaccinated, after spending more than three weeks in the hospital, his lungs filling with fluid. He was unable to swallow because of a stroke.
He never went out, so he didnt think he would catch it, said his grieving sister, Karen McKnight. She wondered: Why take the risk of not getting vaccinated?
The preventable deaths will continue, experts predict, with unvaccinated pockets of the nation experiencing outbreaks in the fall and winter. Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, said modeling suggests the nation will hit 1,000 deaths per day again next year.
In Arkansas, which has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the nation, with only about 33% of the population fully protected, cases, hospitalizations and deaths are rising.
It is sad to see someone go to the hospital or die when it can be prevented, Gov. Asa Hutchinson tweeted as he urged people to get their shots.
In Seattles King County, the public health department found only three deaths during a recent 60-day period in people who were fully vaccinated. The rest, some 95% of 62 deaths, had had no vaccine or just one shot.
Those are all somebodys parents, grandparents, siblings and friends, said Dr. Mark Del Beccaro, who helps lead a vaccination outreach program in King County. Its still a lot of deaths, and theyre preventable deaths.
In the St. Louis area, more than 90% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated, said Dr. Alex Garza, a hospital administrator who directs a metropolitan-area task force on the outbreak.
The majority of them express some regret for not being vaccinated, Garza said. Thats a pretty common refrain that were hearing from patients with COVID.
The stories of unvaccinated people dying may convince some people they should get the shots, but young adults the group least likely to be vaccinated may be motivated more by a desire to protect their loved ones, said David Michaels, an epidemiologist at George Washington Universitys school of public health in the nations capital.
Others need paid time off to get the shots and deal with any side effects, Michaels said.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration this month began requiring health care employers, including hospitals and nursing homes, to provide such time off. But Michaels, who headed OSHA under President Barack Obama, said the agency should have gone further and applied the rule to meat and poultry plants and other food operations as well as other places with workers at risk.
Bagne, who lived alone, ran a business helping people incorporate their companies in Wyoming for the tax advantages. He was winding down the business, planning to retire, when he got sick, emailing his sister in April about an illness that had left him dizzy and disoriented.
Whatever it was. That bug took a LOT out of me, he wrote.
As his health deteriorated, a neighbor finally persuaded him to go to the hospital.
Why was the messaging in his state so unclear that he didnt understand the importance of the vaccine? He was a very bright guy, his sister said. I wish hed gotten the vaccine, and Im sad he didnt understand how it could prevent him from getting COVID.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Coronavirus: CDC panel says 'likely association' between heart inflammation and mRNA vaccines - as it happened Financial Times
A woman reacts as she receives the Johnson & Johnson vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as part of a government plan to inoculate Mexican border residents on its shared frontier with the United States, in Tijuana, Mexico June 17, 2021.
Jorge Duenes | Reuters
Some countries, like the U.S. and U.K., have already signaled that they could roll out Covid-19 booster shots within a year. Now, pressure is building on governments to mobilize booster shot programs no easy task given the ongoing uncertainties surrounding the pandemic, vaccines and variants.
However, concrete plans for Covid-19 booster shots are lacking. Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, last month said it was, "just something we're gonna have to figure out as we go."
As talk of booster shots grow, here's what we know so far:
First of all, there are question marks over whether we actually need a third dose of any Covid-19 vaccine given that we don't know how long immunity currently lasts.
In the U.S. and U.K. the shots being used are those from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, with the U.K. also relying heavily on the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine.
There are also unknowns regarding whether people should get a booster shot that's the same as the vaccines they originally had. And also whether the shots need to be tweaked to deal with variants, much like the flu vaccine, or whether they can remain as they are.
Experts argue that there needs to be extensive planning in place for any booster program in order to help health services cope. This is particularly important given that they are under pressure not just from delivering the current vaccination programs, but also tending to the health needs of those patients whose procedures and treatments were delayed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the U.K., the chair of Royal College of General Practitioners, Martin Marshall,told the BBC's "Today" radio show that Britain's National Health Service needed to know what it would be expected to do come the fall.
"We do need to know, first of all, whether a booster vaccination program is needed ... who will need it, like more vulnerable and older people. We need to know where they will be given them [the booster shots] and by whom," he said Monday.
"Our GPs and nurses are extremely busy, so is it possible that a booster campaign can be given by non-clinical trained vaccination staff?," he asked, arguing in favor of giving a booster alongside the winter flu vaccination.
On the same radio show, Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (which advises the U.K. government on its vaccination policy) cautioned that who is targeted by any booster campaign should be carefully considered.
He said priority needs would be "data driven," although he recognized the need for the NHS to plan ahead.
There is a moral argument over whether booster vaccination programs are the right thing to do when many less developed countries are lagging in their vaccination programs.
The World Health Organization has urged richer countries to donate vaccines to poorer ones before they consider booster shots. Indeed, the jury is out at the WHO over whether a booster shot is even needed.
"We do not have the information that's necessary to make the recommendation on whether or not a booster will be needed," theWorld Health Organization's Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said in Zoom call on Friday, Bloomberg reported, adding that the "science is still evolving."
WHO officials also said last week that there were reports the delta variant caused more severe symptoms, but that additional research was needed to confirm those conclusions. Still,there are signsthat the delta strain could provoke different symptoms than other variants.
So far, the vaccines have proved resilient to new variants, remaining largely effective in preventing serious Covid-19 for fully-vaccinated people. An analysis fromPublic Health Englandreleased last Monday found two doses of thePfizer-BioNTechor theAstraZenecaCovid-19 vaccines were highly effective against hospitalization from the delta variant.
On Friday, the WHO's Swaminathan said that scientists still needed more data on the variant, including its impact on the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines.
"How many are getting infected and of those how many are getting hospitalized and seriously ill?" Swaminathan said Friday. "This is something we're watching very carefully."
- CNBC's Berkeley Lovelace Jr. contributed reporting to this story.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that just over 55% of adults in the U.S. are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
The UK has reported 16,703 new COVID-19 cases and another 21 coronavirus-related deaths in the latest 24-hour period, according to government data.
The figures compare with 16,135 infections and 19 deaths announced yesterday, and 11,007 cases and 19 deaths this time last week.
Meanwhile, another 207,647 people received their first dose of a COVID vaccine yesterday, while 167,988 got a second.
This means a total of 43,656,327 first jabs have been administered in the UK, while 31,908,103 people have been fully vaccinated.
Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world
It comes as government minister George Eustice told Sky News there will be no "legal compulsion" to wear a face mask once England's coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
The deadline for the next easing of restrictions was moved back from 21 June to 19 July, following the rise in cases of the Delta variant, first detected in India.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this month-long delay would allow for more people to be offered the COVID vaccine.
He has indicated that there is a "real opportunity" to "open up travel through the jab".
An update to the government's travel guidance was announced also announced, with Malta and the Balearic Islands - including Ibiza, Mallorca, Minorca and Formentera - added to the quarantine-free green list.
Earlier on Thursday, Public Health England said that cases of COVID continue to rise in all parts of the country.
The North West has the highest rate, with 238.9 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 20 June.
This is the highest rate in the region since the week ending 31 January.
The next highest figure was found in the North East, with 173.6 cases per 100,000 people.
Case rates continue to be highest in the younger parts of the population, while the elder generations - who were offered a vaccine earlier - remain at a lower level.
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In people aged 20 to 29, there were 267.9 cases per 100,000 in the week to 20 June, up from 200.4 the week before, while those in the 10 to 19 age bracket saw their rate increase from 146.1 to 217.4.
For people aged 60 and over, the rate is 17 people per 100,000, up from 14,8.
