Nearly 250,000 people living in Norfolk and Waveney have received a coronavirus jab, fresh data has revealed.

New figures published by NHS England on Thursday show 249,378 people had been administered at least one dose of the vaccine by February 7.

That makes up 29.3pc of the area's overall population.

A total of 67,260 over-80s - the programme's oldest priority group - have had initial jabs, which is 94.3pc.

Impressively, 97.3pc of those aged 75 to 79 have already received a vaccine, which constitutes another 47,456 patients.

And 51,071 people in the 70 to 74 group - who are now being told to actively arrange appointments - have had first shots.

In all, 83,591 people under the age of 70 have been injected with either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca product, the vast majority of which are frontline health and care staff or those deemed extremely clinically vulnerable.

The government's intention is to have offered jabs to everyone in the top four priority groups by Monday, February 15.

And, despite heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures wreaking havoc across the region this week, health bosses say proceedings have stayed on track.

Melanie Craig, chief executive of Norfolk and Waveney CCG, which has been leading the roll-out, claimed it was going "from strength to strength".

She added: “Based on the latest data available, Norfolk and Waveney is the top performing system in the East of England in terms of the percentage of over-80s vaccinated and percentage of adult population vaccinated.

"This is thanks to the hard work and dedication of health and care staff, and the vital support we have and continue to receive from volunteers, the police, fire service, councils and more.

“The weather this week has been very challenging but this hasn’t impacted the determination and focus of local teams and their drive to vaccinate our patients."

As the roll-out progresses, several thousand of the area's over-80s have also received second doses of the vaccine protecting against Covid-19.

A total of 8,201 people are now fully inoculated, which is 11.5pc of the group's population.

Jabs are being delivered in 31 locations across Norfolk and Waveney, including five hospital hubs, 21 GP-led sites, four mass vaccination centres and one pharmacy.

Roving teams are continuing to serve the housebound in their own homes.