BORIS Johnson has demanded Covid jab refuseniks make a New Year’s resolution to get vaccinated.
The PM issued a stern message to the five million Brits who have yet to receive the life-saving treatment, warning them to avoid the “miserable, needless suffering” of the disease.
Mr Johnson joked that the jab was “far easier than losing weight or keeping a diary”.
He pleaded in his New Year Eve address: “I want to speak directly to all those who have yet to get fully vaccinated.
“The people who think the disease can’t hurt them, look at the people going into hospital now. That could be you.
“Look at the intensive care units and the miserable, needless suffering of those who did not get their booster. That could be you.
“So, make it your New Year’s resolution. Find a walk-in centre or make an online appointment. Get that jab and do something that will make 2022 a happy New Year for us all.”
But Mr Johnson was in an upbeat mood insisting the nation’s fight against the virus is “incomparably better than last year”.
He praised Britain’s booming economy — the fastest growing in the G7 — which he puts down to the incredible rollout and the spirit of the public to get jabbed.
The PM said: “And there is one reason, one overriding reason, why the UK has been able to maintain the most open economy and society of any major European economy.
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“That is because British people have responded heroically, voluntarily, and in almost incredible numbers to the call to get vaccinated.
“And it’s precisely because of that huge national effort that we can celebrate tonight at all.”
But as the nation counts down to 2022, he reminded revellers to celebrate responsibly — and follow local rules in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
His message came as Health Secretary Sajid Javid announced that every eligible adult in England has been offered a third Covid shot, delivering on a promised that Mr Johnson had made earlier this month.
Since then, the NHS has done more than eight million top-up jabs in little over two weeks.
It means seven in ten eligible adults — 28.1 million — have had their booster in England.
Mr Javid said: “I am delighted to confirm we have hit our target.”
And yesterday it emerged nine in ten eligible Brits have had at least one Covid jab, with demand for first doses surging by almost 50 per cent in recent weeks.
Around 51.7 million initial shots have been administered to over-12s in the UK.
But Mr Javid admitted he could be forced to ration rapid tests to combat a shortage as millions ordered the DIY kits.
Wales have stepped in and loaned England four million to deal with the surge in demand over the festive period.
Mr Javid told MPs in a letter: “We expect to need to constrain the system at certain points over the next two weeks to manage supply over the course of each day.
“We are constantly reviewing system performance and ways to maximise its response to the demand.”
He revealed that the Government was ramping up orders to nearly 300 million.
The British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing claimed health staff should come first for the rapid tests to ease staffing issues.
That statement was echoed by Wes Streeting, Labour’s shadow health secretary, who last night wrote to Mr Javid calling for him to prioritise PCR, lateral flow tests and masks for key workers. Leading scientists have warned the shortage of tests is “very worrying”.
And Professor Martin Marshall, from the Royal College of GPs, said: “It does seem there are some mixed messages here because the Secretary of State said yesterday there was a global shortage.
“But we are also told by the UK Health Security Agency that there is a local logistics problem.”
Tory MP Sir Roger Gale said he was worried people had started stockpiling the rapid tests.
He added: “The big message has to be, ‘Only order what you need’.” Government adviser Professor Peter Openshaw warned that New Year parties were the perfect setting for spreading Omicron.
But the Imperial College London expert said he did not expect any draconian restrictions, adding: “We know the situations in which transmission happens and, fortunately, I don’t think we are facing the sort of lockdown that was necessary in order to cope in the very earliest part of this year.”
