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Revealed: Just 26 fully vaccinated people have died with Indian COVID variant

A National Health Service (NHS) staff holds a vial containing Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination centre in London. (Photo by Dinendra Haria / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)
A member of NHS staff holds a vial containing the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a centre in London. (PA)

Cases of the Delta variant of coronavirus have almost doubled in a week with 73 people now confirmed to have died after testing positive for the variant, 26 of whom had had both vaccine doses.

Public Health England (PHE) said that as of Monday, the UK has seen 75,953 confirmed cases of the Delta variant first identified in India, up 33,630 - or 79% - from the previous week.

While just 26 people died more than two weeks after their second COVID-19 vaccine dose from the Delta variant, more than 30.6 million in the UK have had both jabs, according to the latest government figures.

PHE said a total of 806 people in England have been admitted to hospital with the Delta variant as of 14 June, a rise of 423 on the previous week.

Watch: Four out of five UK adults have had COVID jab

Of the 806, 527 (65%) were unvaccinated, 135 (17%) were more than 21 days after their first dose of vaccine, and 84 (10%) were more than 14 days after their second dose.

As of 14 June, there have been 73 deaths in England of people who were confirmed as having the Delta variant and who died within 28 days of a positive test.

Of this number, 34 (47%) were unvaccinated, 10 (14%) were more than 21 days after their first dose of vaccine and 26 (36%) were more than 14 days after their second dose.

Read more: Two critical reasons UK is facing a difficult COVID winter, according to Chris Whitty

Of the 75,953 cases of the Delta variant, 70,856 have been in England, 4,659 in Scotland, 254 in Northern Ireland and 184 in Wales.

The most recent data shows 99% of confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus across the country are the Delta variant.

PHE figures published last week showed Delta variant cases had more than tripled from the previous seven-day period.

(Yahoo News UK/Flourish/PHE)
The proportion of people hospitalised in England with the Delta variant and their vaccination status. (Yahoo News UK/Flourish/PHE)

A study published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday revealed that young people, healthcare workers and non-white people are among those most likely to test positive for COVID-19 after being vaccinated.

The analysis found the chance of getting coronavirus after being vaccinated drops sharply 21 days following the first dose.

Just 0.5% of people who had received one dose tested positive for COVID. After two doses, this number dropped to 0.07%.

Meanwhile, vaccine experts are poised to advise the government not to give coronavirus jabs to all children aged 12 to 17, it has been reported.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is expected to tell ministers not to offer COVID-19 jabs to every child in that age group, according to the BBC.

Prime minister Boris Johnson has set a target of offering all adults a first vaccine dose and two-thirds of adults a second jab by 19 July.

Watch: Hancock says race between vaccines and COVID isn't over yet