THE gap between Covid jabs is set to be halved to just four weeks to speed up the vaccination rollout.
Downing Street has urged the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to reduce the current eight-week interval to help tackle the surge in cases – particularly the Delta variant.
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If the move is approved, it will be a major boost for families hoping for a foreign getaway.
Parents could have had both jabs before the end of the school summer holidays, meaning they won’t have to quarantine on return to the UK from any of the green or amber list countries.
Almost 90 per cent of all adults have received one dose of the vaccine, and 66 per cent a second.
But uptake among young men remains relatively, so the Government is planning a mega publicity drive – including before England’s Euro 2020 final against Italy at Wembley on Sunday, Trending In The Newsday Times reports.
Footie fans will be urged to visit a clinic close to the north-west London stadium before the 8pm kick off.
Almost half of men aged 18 to 24 are yet to receive a jab despite all over-18s being invited to come forward three weeks ago.
This compares to less than 40 per cent of women in the same age bracket.
Professor James Naismith of Oxford University said: “The number of infections of Covid-19 from the third wave has continued to grow rapidly in the UK in younger age groups.
“The virus is firmly established in younger people and growing rapidly.
“Although the vast majority of younger people will have very mild – if any – symptoms, a small percentage will have more serious illness.
“A small percentage of a very large number is still quite a lot of people.”
He added: “For young people, the vaccine essentially eliminates the risk to you and is a no-brainer.”
It is particularly pressing as the long-awaited ‘Freedom Day’ will go ahead on July 19 – despite top doctors warning against it.
All legal Covid measures are due to end later this month – with face masks and social distancing mandates scrapped and mass events permitted.
Quarantine for fully vaccinated travellers returning to the UK from abroad will also be ditched, as will the school bubble system.
‘ADD FUEL TO THE FIRE’
Boris Johnson is expected to confirm the move, with No 10 sources saying the PM trusts “the innate good sense of the British people” not to act “recklessly”, the Daily Mail reports.
But the great unlocking is likely to prompt a significant surge in already rising cases, with experts warning infections could reach a peak of 100,000 a day.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard said throwing away all coronavirus precautions is alarming and will “add fuel to the fire” as Britain is already battling a “dangerous wave”.
The latest figures show UK Covid hospital admissions have surged by 50 per cent in a week, with 565 new patients in the last 24 hours.
Coronavirus cases have risen by 32,367 in the last day, bringing the total number of infections since the pandemic began to 5,089,893.
And 34 more fatalities were reported today, making the grim total 128,339.
This means that there has been a 30 per cent rise in cases – and a 62 per cent rise in deaths – in the last seven days.
However, a whopping 80,327,679 Covid jabs have been administered so far, of which 45,786,550 were first doses – a rise of 88,675 on the previous day.
Some 34,541,129 were second doses – an increase of 166,883.
