A total of 41,505,768 COVID-19 jabs have been given in the UK so far with close to 550,000 vaccines administered in a 24-hour period, according to government data.

129,782 first doses were administered to take that total number to 32,574,221, and a further 417,683 second doses were administered raising that total to 8,931,547, official figures showed.

The more than 8.9 million people who have received a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine represents about 17 percent of the adult population.

Meanwhile, the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on Friday said hundreds of thousands of pregnant women in the UK had been given the green light to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Pregnant women had previously been advised not to take the jab due to inadequate data on the effects. However, with the release of real-world data from the U.S., they will now be offered the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine based on their age and clinical risk group at any stage of pregnancy.

Elsewhere, the UK also recorded 34 COVID-19 deaths in past 24 hours taking the death toll to 127,225, and a total of 2,592 cases were recorded on Friday, a slight drop from the figure of 2,672 reported on Thursday.

(With input from agencies)