OVER 600,000 people have had at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine in Sussex, it has been revealed.

The latest NHS figures show that a total of 675,879 people have been given a jab in the county, as the largest vaccination programme in NHS history continues.

In Brighton and Hove, people 83,858 have been given a jab - 80,364 of whom have had their first dose.

According to the Sussex Health and Care Partnership, 3,494 have had their second.

Elsewhere in the county, 234,691 have had their first dose in East Sussex, while 6,342 have had their second.

In West Sussex, a total of 350,988 have a dose of the vaccine.

A total of 20,807,385 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and March 11, according to provisional NHS England data.

It comes as thousands returned to school on Monday as part of the Prime Minister's roadmap to recovery.

Boris Johnson said he hoped the tentative softening of restrictions marked a "big step" on his "road map to freedom" - a plan which could see all Covid measures lifted by June 21.

He said: "I'm going to ask you to wait a little longer, give us more time to look at the data about what's happening, look at the way the numbers are coming down and also study, I think very importantly, the efficacy of the vaccines.

"Are they working in the way that we hope they are? Making sure that they're really helping, along with the lockdown, to drive down the incidents. That's the key thing.

"I'm optimistic. I won't hide it from you, I'm optimistic. But we have to be cautious."

Across the South East, 3,189,466 people have had their first jab and 173,241 have had second doses.