More than one million 12- to 15-year-olds in England have been vaccinated against coronavirus, as the NHS vaccination programme continues to visit hundreds of schools every week.

To date, more than 3,500 schools have hosted clinics, while 95 per cent of all schools have either already been visited or have a visit planned in the coming weeks.

The NHS has hit the million milestone, while more than 800 schools will be visited by NHS teams next week offering young people the chance to get vaccinated ahead of winter. Young people have also been able to get their vaccine through existing school immunisation services or by booking through the National Booking Service to attend a vaccination site outside of school hours.

Dr Emily Lawson, head of the NHS Covid-19 Vaccination Programme, said: “It is fantastic that one million 12- to 15-year-olds have now had their covid jabs thanks to the schools programme and the hard work of specialist NHS teams who are either visiting hundreds of schools every single week or our vaccination sites. I would urge families to look at the information together and then book in to give children and their loved ones crucial protection ahead of winter.”

There are around 60 school age immunisation services across the country with teams made up of clinical staff such as paediatric nurses and school nurses.