One in five adults in England aged under 70 have had their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, new data suggests.

Provisional figures from NHS England, published on Thursday, show that 16,337,561 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and February 24, including first and second doses.

This is a rise of 411,146 on the previous day’s figures.

Of this number, 15,794,992 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 396,937 on the previous day, while 542,569 were a second dose, an increase of 14,209.

An estimated 20.3% of people aged 16 to 69 had received their first jab as of February 21.

The estimates show little variation between the regions, ranging from 17.2% in London to 22.3% in north-west England.

Some 94% of residents of older adult care homes in England eligible to have their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine had received the jab by February 21, NHS England said.

Residents are classed as eligible for the vaccine if they have not had Covid-19 in the previous 28 days.

The equivalent figure for staff of older care homes is 71.5%.

But only 54.8% of eligible staff at older care homes in London are estimated to have received their first jab.

Some 54.2% of social care staff at younger adult care homes and domiciliary care providers and 53.9% of staff at other settings including “non-registered providers and local authority employed” had received their first jab, the data showed.

England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam told ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Wednesday that healthcare workers had a “professional responsibility to take steps themselves to prevent them from being in a position where they could harm patients through infectious diseases they might have”.

Asked how he felt about people working in the NHS or in care homes who were refusing to have the vaccine, Prof Van-Tam said the vast majority were getting a jab.

He added: “I agree with Professor (Chris) Whitty in that I think healthcare workers have always had a professional responsibility to take steps themselves to prevent them from being in a position where they could harm patients through infectious diseases they might have.

“That’s been a very clear position on hepatitis B vaccine and performing invasive procedures, particularly surgery, for decades and decades.

“And so I think that’s the professional standard that everybody ought to adhere to.

“Now, the other way of framing this is saying, if you’re a consumer of healthcare, if you’re a patient or a relative, would you prefer a healthcare worker to attend you or your relative if they have been vaccinated against Covid, or would you not really mind either way?”

NHS England has said around 91% of patient-facing NHS trust healthcare workers in England are likely to have had their first dose of a vaccine.

Around one in seven people aged 70 and over in London had yet to have their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at the start of this week, the figures suggest.

An estimated 85.2% of those aged 70 and over in the capital had received their first jab up to February 21 – the lowest proportion for any region.

The estimate for the whole of England was 95.9%.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on February 14 that everyone in England in the top four priority groups, including those aged 70 and over, had been offered the vaccine.