Boris Johnson has said the UK needs to “go faster” with the vaccination of 16 to 17-year olds, despite a “strong” uptake within the age group.

The prime minister told reporters that the eligible teenagers were “a very important group for potential transmission”.

“I would urge all 16 to 17-year-olds, everybody who knows 16 to 17-year-olds – the numbers are coming up very fast now, it is very encouraging to see more and more 16 to 17-year-olds taking the jab – but we need to go faster with those,” he said.

NHS England said more than 620,000 young people aged 16 and 17 have now been jabbed, less than a month after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) approved they could be given a first dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

In Wales, 63% of the age group have had one jab, while in Scotland the figure is 51%.

Meanwhile, political pressure appears to be building on experts advising on the vaccination of even younger people, with Gavin Williamson saying he hoped a decision on vaccinating 12 to 15-year-olds will be made “very, very soon”.

The education secretary said the NHS is ready to go into schools to deliver jabs to that age group “if we get the get-go” from the JCVI.

Mr Johnson also indicated that booster jabs could be extended to a wider group of people than previously confirmed, saying: “The priorities now are the older generation going into autumn and winter, and we have always said there would be a booster programme in September – in this month – and we are going ahead with that.”

The government said a further 178 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Thursday, bringing the UK total to 132,920.