More than 200,000 people in Devon have had their first COVID-19 vaccine, the highest figure in the South West, latest NHS England statistics show.

The figures, which provide the position as of January 31, show that there had been 217,344 vaccinations in the county, with 204,815 of them being the first dose.

The figures for Devon, which will have risen in the most recent days, are the highest number of vaccinations for any of the regions within the South West, and they show that 20.5 per cent of the population had received their first jab. This is up on the 14.5 per cent as of January 24.

The statistics show that, as of Sunday, of the 79,525 over 80s within Devon, 72,831 had received their first vaccine – a total of 91.6 per cent, with 10,838 – 13.6 per cent – having also had the second dose.

There are now five methods by which the vaccine is being rolled out across Devon.

All four of the county's main hospitals – in Plymouth, Exeter, Torquay and Barnstaple – are giving the vaccination to priority groups in line with national guidance, while GP practices are working together in groups to set up local vaccination centres, and across the county, 20 centres are now in operation, serving all of Devon practices.

GP-led facilities are delivering the vaccine to residents and staff in care homes, while pharmacies have started to deliver the vaccine, and last Tuesday, the mass vaccination sites at Home Park in Plymouth, and Westpoint Arena just outside Exeter became operational with thousands of vaccines a day to be delivered.

Every Devon care home has been vaccinated as well, except for those where there were active outbreaks.

Vaccination figures in Axminster

Axminster Medical Practice's latest figure show that 2,346 of its registered patients have now received at least their first COVID vaccination.

This is 19.1 per cent of the entire practice population, comparing favourably to the rest of England where 15.5 per cent of the population have received a first jab.

The practice has a further 675 vaccinations booked in this weekend, facilitated by 22 surgery staff working overtime.

A spokesperson from the medical centre said: "Organising these clinics is very difficult as we often do not know when we will receive our next vaccine batch until a few days before it arrives.

"Once it arrives we only have four days to use it. This gives us a very short window to book patients in and leaves our patients in the dark as to when they can reasonably expect to be called.

"Hopefully this will improve as the vaccine supply becomes more consistent and we start to receive regular, reliable deliveries.

"As always, thank you for understanding the pressure that Axminster Medical Practice is under at the moment. Thank you for the kindness shown to our staff - right now they really do need and deserve it."