The government has announced that all eligible adults in England aged 18 and over will be offered a coronavirus booster vaccine by the end of January.
Following advice from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation, everyone who is currently eligible - including those aged 40 and over, health and social care workers and those at increased risk from the virus due to health conditions - will be able to book their jab from three months after their second dose, meaning an additional seven million people over 40 are now eligible.
The government and the NHS are urging younger people to wait until they are called forward by the NHS – with the more vulnerable continuing to be prioritised for their booster, to top up their immunity to the virus as soon as possible.
To speed up the vaccination programme, around 400 military personnel will be drafted in to support deployment, with 1,500 community pharmacy sites, additional hospital hubs, and pop-up sites opening in convenient locations across the country. More than 3,000 sites are already open in England - more than double the number in February.
Additionally, payments to GPs, community pharmacies and primary care staff will increase to £15 a dose until the end of January. To increase capacity on Sundays, when many community pharmacists are not normally open, the NHS will offer an additional £5 a shot.
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Since we learnt of the new Omicron variant a few days ago, our strategy has been to buy the time we need to assess it while doing everything we can at pace to strengthen our defences. Our best weapon to fight the virus is to get as many jabs in arms as possible. That is why I asked the JCVI to urgently look at expanding and accelerating the vaccination programme in light of the Omicron variant. Thanks to their rapid advice we are now able to put our booster programme on steroids – and protect even more people even more quickly.
“We have set an ambitious target to offer booster jabs to all adults in England by the end of January, while ensuring those most vulnerable to the virus will continue to be prioritised for their booster, and having the gap between second doses and boosters. This is a national mission and we all have a role to play – so step up, roll up your sleeves, and get protected when the time comes.”
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “The NHS Covid vaccination programme was already in its most complex phase and staff are now working at breakneck speed to respond to the new variant and the expansion of the booster programme, which has already administered more than 15 million doses across England.
“The NHS will roll out this latest phase of the programme to the most vulnerable first, offering the booster jab to those over 40 who would have previously had to wait six months, before moving on to younger age groups – there is no need to contact the NHS, we will contact you when it is your turn to book in with the NHS working hard to ensure every adult who is eligible is offered a chance to book in for their booster by the end of January.”
