The Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are more than 80 per cent effective at preventing hospitalisations from Covid-19 in those over 80 after one dose of either shot, Public Health England (PHE) has said, citing a pre-print study.

PHE said the real-world study also found that protection against symptomatic Covid in those over 70 ranged between 57-61pc for one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine and between 60-73pc for the Oxford-AstraZeneca one four weeks after the first shot.

“These results may also help to explain why the number of Covid admissions to intensive care units among people over 80 in the UK have dropped to single figures in the last couple of weeks,” British health minister Matt Hancock told a news conference. “This is seriously encouraging.”