Matt Hancock wrongly claims ‘tens of thousands’ being jabbed each day in Bolton

Official statistics show inoculation rate much lower

Matt Hancock massively exaggerated the rate of vaccination in coronavirus hotspot Bolton in the House of Commons today.

The health secretary told MPs that jabs were going into arms in the northwest town at a rate of “tens of thousands every single day”.

But official government statistics show that daily inoculations have never topped 5,500 in Bolton, and have hovered around the 2,000 mark in recent days.

Bolton is one of a number of areas to be offered a surge vaccination programme in response to outbreaks of the highly infectious B1.617.2 variant of Covid-19 first identified in India.

Speaking to the House of Commons today, Mr Hancock said: “The people of Bolton have again risen to this challenge.

“The number of vaccinations happening in Bolton right now is phenomenal - tens of thousands every single day.

“And it is heartening to see the queues of people coming forward.”

While there have indeed been queues of people rushing to get their jabs in the town, official government statistics show that the numbers have never approached five figures.

The highest daily number recorded on the government’s coronavirus dashboard was 5,447 - 1720 first doses and 3,727 second jabs - on 20 May.

But the most recent official figures show 2,121 jabs on Tuesday this week, 1,628 on Monday, 922 on Sunday and 2,045 on Saturday.

In total by Tuesday this week, some 168,289 adults in the area (69.1 per cent) had received their first jab 99,532 (40.9 per cent) their second jab.

There was no immediate explanation for the health secretary’s comment from the Department for Health and Social Care.

But prime minster Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said: “The data for vaccination rates in Bolton and other areas is published on the dashboard very clearly.

“It is right that Bolton is well above the average numbers of vaccinations being carried out daily, which is testament to the work being done by local NHS staff and the public in Bolton.”