FIVE million over-70s and extremely vulnerable people will be offered Covid jabs from today.
Letters will be sent to the next two priority groups as the vaccine programme continues to advance.
The next stage will see 4.6million in their 70s and older another one million who are “clinically extremely vulnerable”.
This group includes people who have immune conditions, cancer are have received organ transplants.
More than 3.8 million people in the UK – including over-80s, care home residents, and NHS and social care staff – have already received their first dose of the vaccine.
The Government said it would remain the priority to vaccinate those in the first two groups, but that sites which have enough supply and capacity to vaccinate more people.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to offer vaccinations to the first four priority groups by the middle of next month, while Dominic Raab said on Sunday that all adults would be offered a first dose by September.
‘HOME STRAIGHT’
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Britain is “nearly on the home straight” in beating the pandemic.
Sir Simon Stevens, NHS England boss, told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that hospitals are currently administering 140 jabs a minute, with the programme to be ramped up even further.
When asked if he would like to see Covid vaccinations given “all day, all night”, Sir Simon said: “Absolutely, we will do that at the point that we have enough supply that it makes sense.”
He added: “We will start testing 24/7 in some hospitals over the course of the next 10 days.
“But we are at the moment vaccinating at the rate of about 140 jabs a minute.”
Mass testing of entire regions is being considered to end the national lockdown, the Telegraph reported.
An idea reportedly being considered is to send lateral flow test kits out to every home in a region of the UK.
RETURN TO TIERS
Lockdown is set to be lifted in March under the government’s plans to ease restrictions but the Tiers system will return, Mr Raab said.
The foreign minister said easing measures will “not happen in one big bang,” instead insisting they will be “phased out” in individual regions.
It comes after a cabinet deal was done to approve a three-point plan for lifting the coronavirus lockdown by early spring.
In order for measures to be eased, an area’s death rate must fall, the number of hospital admissions must drop and some in the 50 to 70-year-old age range must be vaccinated.
