More than 46million people in the UK have now received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while more than 35million are fully vaccinated. That means 87.9% of people have received one dose, and 68.3% have had both jabs.
The UK's vaccine rollout is one of the most successful in the world, and even with the virus mutating, it still offers the best protection.
But despite the success of the vaccine rollout, new cases of coronavirus are still rising sharply.
So can you still get Covid if you've been fully vaccinated? And can you catch coronavirus twice? Here we explain.
Can you still get Covid if you've been fully vaccinated?
Yes, according to the NHS there is a chance you can still get or spread Covid-19 even if you've had the vaccine.
A recent report from Public Health England (PHE) found that one in five people who have double-vaccinated are "still vulnerable to getting infected with the Delta varian t and showing symptoms".
Government guidance continued: "You can also still spread Covid-19 to others",
World Health Organisation chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminatha said: "There are reports coming in that vaccinated populations have cases of infection, particularly with the delta variant."
However, she added that the "majority of these are mild or asymptomatic infections."
Sir Peter Horby, chair of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG), said in an interview with BBC's Andrew Marr: "What we know with the vaccines is that they are remarkably effective at preventing hospitalisations and death. They are less effective at preventing infection."
He added: "It’s really important for people to realise that as we increase the vaccination rates, and most older people are vaccinated, we will see breakthrough infections.
"That does not mean that the vaccinations don’t work – breakthroughs are expected. What we want to do is prevent hospitalisations and deaths, and the vaccines do that very effectively."
According to the NHS, you need both doses of the vaccine if you want "stronger and longer-lasting protection", however, the first dose should give you some protection after three to four weeks.
It typically takes two weeks after the vaccination for the body to build immunity against the virus that causes Covid-19.
Meanwhile, a study published by PHE earlier in the year found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease from the Delta variant, and 93% from the Alpha two weeks after the second dose.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was found to be 60% and 66% effective against the same variants.
A separate analysis of the figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), based on a sample of 297,493 vaccinated people, found that only 0.5% had a new infection of Covid-19.
Of those who had received both doses of the coronavirus vaccine, only 0.1% had a new infection, according to the report.
Keep in mind that it's also possible for a person to be infected with the virus before or just after getting the jab, and still get sick.
Government guidance recommends that people should still take precautions to avoid infections, because "like all medicines, no vaccine is completely effective".
Get all the latest news sent to your inbox. Sign up for the free Mirror newsletter
The WHO explains: “The COVID-19 vaccines produce protection against the disease, as a result of developing an immune response to the SARS-Cov-2 virus.
“Developing immunity through vaccination means there is a reduced risk of developing the illness and its consequences.
“This immunity helps you fight the virus if exposed.
“Getting vaccinated may also protect people around you, because if you are protected from getting infected and from disease, you are less likely to infect someone else.
“This is particularly important to protect people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19, such as healthcare providers, older or elderly adults, and people with other medical conditions.
“Because Covid vaccines have only been developed in the past months, it’s too early to know the duration of protection of COVID-19 vaccines. Research is ongoing to answer this question.
“However, it’s encouraging that available data suggest that most people who recover from COVID-19 develop an immune response that provides at least some period of protection against reinfection – although we’re still learning how strong this protection is, and how long it lasts.”
Can you catch Covid twice?
Scientists are still learning about Covid-19, but we do know it's possible to catch it twice.
Broadly speaking, once we've had a virus our body creates antibodies that help us fight it.
That means if you come into contact with it again, the body's immune system should fight it off more easily.
A study by PHE has showed that most people who have had Covid-19 are protected against catching it again for at least five months.
However, coronavirus hasn't been around long enough to know the full extent of how long immunity lasts.
Research at King's College London found that the level of antibodies that kill Covid-19 waned over a three month study.
Meanwhile, a UK Biobank study found that 88% of 1,699 people with Covid-19 antibodies still had them after six month.
The good news is, cases of reinfection are considered rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
