Optimism for clubs and festivals as report shows UK adults could be vaccinated by June

There's hope for the reopening of clubs and festivals yet as a new report shows that all adults in the UK could be vaccinated by June.

This would be a full month earlier than the government's previous target of July and coincide with the potential reopening of clubs and festivals from June 21.

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The Office for Budget Responsibility, a public body funded by the Treasury to provide economic forecasts, has issued a report that predicts that all UK adults could receive a first vaccine by June if the rate of inoculations steps up to 4 million a week starting this month.

About 2.3 million vaccinations a week were given in the second half of February and it's reported government public health advisors predict that vaccinations could reach 4 million a week from the end of April.

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But the forecast, released by the OBR to coincide with the budget that was unveiled by the Chancellor Rishi Sunak yesterday, also points out that “If the rollout speed increased further to 4m a week from March onwards, all adults could receive their first dose by June."

The NHS is planning to boost the number of vaccinations from the middle of March and a recent letter sent to vaccinators from NHS England says that “from 11 March vaccine supply will increase substantially”. The letter also said that the number of available vaccines would double, meaning the rate of inoculations could exceed 4 million a week.

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Vaccination centres will start booking more appointments than the current rate from March 15 and Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said there will be "really bumper weeks" in March.

The government's current target of vaccinating all adults in the UK by July is based on the issue of 3 million vaccines per week. The OBR's forecast of June will come true if that goes past 4 million per week this month.

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Clubs and festivals could reopen from June 21 as part of the last phase of the government's roadmap out of lockdown. Having adults vaccinated would improve the chances of this happening and is even more important in the wake of yesterday's budget, where no event cancellation insurance was offered to festivals by the government, much to the disappointment of the events industry.

Here's everything we know about the 2021 festival season and here's everything we know about UK clubs reopening.

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