More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Kent saw a 29% rise in vaccinations this week, as cases fluctuate across the county and health experts warned of a potential third wave.
Julian Spinks said if rules are not followed while restrictions ease cases could spike while at a press conference earlier this week Boris Johnson said the overwhelming view of scientists was that a third wave would hit at some point.
But the Prime Minister hoped "at-home treatments" which are in the works plus booster jabs rolled out in the autumn could quell any surge and added there was nothing in the data that suggested his "roadmap" would be held up.
Dr Spinks said: "If you look at Europe, they have very definitely had a big third wave.
"We've avoided that so far, but it's very difficult. I know that UK is an island but actually it has lots of air transport and other things bringing cases in.
His advice to prevent a third wave was: "Get the vaccination if you're offered it and do all those things about spacing and social distancing and wearing a mask - that we don't really like - but it is a very effective way of stopping spread.
"Kent has proportionally given more vaccines than anywhere else in the country but it is a bit of a bumpy road at the moment because of the low vaccine supplies that should be correcting very soon and then we'll ramp up the number we're giving again."
On the week ending April 18, there were 87,727 more first and second doses administered in the county - up from 68,205 the previous week.
Julian Spinks, health expert at KMTV, discusses fluctuating cases and vaccinations
Due to vaccine shortages, this is still down from a record 121,745 given on the week ending March 28.
First doses made up 19% of the vaccines given in the last week and second doses 81% as over 45s were invited to have their first doses while older, vulnerable residents continue to be prioritised for their second vaccine.
A total of 913,849 across Kent and Medway have now had their first dose, with Folkestone and Hythe taking the lead of most residents vaccinated at 69%.
Canterbury and Dartford still have the lowest percentage of the population vaccinated at 58% each.
Alongside this, cases have remained low with just 236 being recorded in Kent on the week ending April 17 - a drop of 8.9% bringing the infection rate down to 12.7.
Due to cases being so low, different areas vary from day to day on whether they are seeing a drop or rise in cases - with six of 13 Kent and Medway areas seeing a rise in cases in the last week.
Dover currently has the lowest infection rate at 5.1 with six cases recorded in the last week, closely followed by Folkestone and Hythe with an infection rate of 5.3.
Canterbury currently has the highest infection rate at 24.2 with 40 cases.
Since restrictions loosened almost two weeks ago, only 20 fines have been given out to those breaching regulations - so there is hope the numbers will stay low if people remain cautious.
