Vaccines for over-40s to start this month as UK delivers jabs to more than 20m adults

OVER-40S will start being called for jabs this month, The Daily Telegraph understands, as it emerged that more than 20 million people – almost four in 10 adults – had now had the vaccine.

Health officials are about to send the last batch of invites to those over 60. It means that by the end of this week, invitations should have been sent to everyone in the top seven priority groups.

As soon as next week, the programme will then move to offer jabs to around five million people in their 50s, which should take around two weeks to deliver, if supplies remain constant.

Despite recent dips in availability, an average of two and a half million people

a week are receiving their first doses of the vaccine, putting the UK on course to offer jabs to everyone over the age of 50 in the week starting March 15 – almost a month before its target.

It means that those aged 40 and over can expect to start receiving invitations for jabs later this month.

On Wednesday, the Chancellor is expected to announce an extra £1.65billion to cover the costs of the vaccination programme. Rishi Sunak is also expected to say there are billions of pounds left in the Covid reserve funds which could be used to pay for a third booster dose to combat new variants.

It is understood there is as much as £21billion in the funds announced as part of the UK Spending Review in November, which is intended for allocation in 2021-22.

Today, letters will be sent to 1.9 million people aged 60-63 in England inviting them to book a coronavirus jab.

The latest batch of invites will mean everyone in the first seven priority groups – including everyone over 60, and younger people with underlying

health conditions, or factors that make them clinically vulnerable – will have been offered a jab, NHS England said.

Meanwhile, the number of daily cases continued to fall, with 6,035 in the UK, down from 7,895 a week ago.

NHS leaders said nine out of 10 people aged 65 and over in England had received their first vaccine, but urged all those eligible to come forward.

Prof Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, said: “It is never too late to take up the offer and I would urge anyone eligible who has yet to do so to come forward and protect yourself and others.”

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said he was “absolutely delighted” as Britain passed the threshold of vaccinating more than 20 million people since the rollout began in December.

“Every jab in the arm is another life soon to be protected from this awful disease and means we are a step closer to returning to our normal lives,” he added.

The £1.65billion Treasury funding for vaccines is intended to cover the costs of distribution and deployment, including the creation of new sites.

The Chancellor is also expected to outline plans for £33million in vaccine testing to protect against future outbreaks and variants, with £22 million to test combinations of different vaccines.

Mr Sunak said: “Protecting ourselves against the virus means we will be able to lift restrictions, reopen our economy and focus our attention on creating jobs and stimulating growth.”

People can use the national booking service to reserve a slot at one of more than NHS vaccination centres or almost 200 pharmacy-led services across the country, NHS England said.

The booking service can be accessed at www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination

Those who cannot go online can call 119 free of charge.