Now half of us get booster jab
HALF of all Britons eligible for a booster jab have now received it, after the roll-out programme was turbocharged over the past few days.
Three-quarters of adults will have received their top-up shot by the end of the year if the current rate of vaccinations continues.
Boris Johnson hailed the halfway milestone on Twitter, saying: ‘A record day for vaccinations... 50 per cent of adults have now received a booster dose. Our NHS is working flat out getting lifesaving booster jabs into arms. Please play your part and Get Boosted Now.’
Figures released yesterday showed 817,625 people received their booster dose on Friday alone.
A push has been launched to raise vaccination levels in areas with the lowest rates, with street teams instructed to urge those doing their Christmas shopping to book appointments if they have not yet done so. But pharmacy leaders last night said
‘We are in a race between the virus and the vaccine – play your part!’
thousands of high street chemists who wanted to join the national effort had been turned down.
As of Friday evening, 27,156,276 booster or third doses had been administered in the UK, according to Government’s official coronavirus data. There are about 52.6million over-18s in the UK, meaning the halfway mark is around 26.3million.
Just a week ago the Prime Minister announced his intention to speed up the booster plan, saying he wanted all adults to be offered a booster by the end of the year rather than the previous deadline of the end of January.
Government sources concede not everyone who has had two jabs will receive their third before New Year’s Day and stress the target is for all over-18s to have been offered a chance to book by then.
Four million people who have received their second dose since September 1 will have to wait until New Year to get their booster, as there is a minimum three-month gap between second and third doses.
In addition, hundreds of thousands have been forced to delay their boosters until January after becoming infected: NHS advice stipulates a four-week gap between natural Covid infection and the booster dose.
But if the campaign can keep on vaccinating around 800,000 people a day it will mean 38.5million will have received their booster by the end of the year, nearly three-quarters of all adults.
Mr Johnson wants to go faster still and hit one million a day, in which case just under 80 per cent would get their boosters before January 1.
Meanwhile, 60 areas with the lowest vaccination rates are being targeted in a push to convince people to have the jab as the Omicron variant sweeps the country. Ministers have allotted an extra £22.5million for the rapid-action Community Vaccine Champions scheme.
It will include an army of 900 people, who will visit 21 busy areas including London’s King’s Cross Station, Brighton Pier and the Liverpool One shopping centre every day between now and Christmas.
Team members – who collectively speak 33 languages – will ask people if they have had their jab and urge them to do so if they say no.
Other initiatives include pop-up clinics in mosques and churches and a travelling vaccination bus.
Yesterday, Sajid Javid revealed his 18-year-old daughter had received the booster jab.
Speaking at Chelsea Football Club, the Health Secretary said: ‘We are in a race between the virus and the vaccine and we are doing in our power to get jabs in arms as quickly as possible.
‘We are calling on people to get boosted now as part of our national mission to reinforce our wall of defence against the rapid spread of Omicron. I want to thank the thousands of people who have heroically stepped up to support our vaccine drive. We’re all in this together – please play your part.’
Data published by the UK Health Security Agency shows vaccines are less protective against Omicron, in terms of stopping mild infection, than previous variants.
However, a third dose pushes protection against symptomatic infection back up above 70 per cent. A third dose also massively cuts the chance of serious disease developing, compared to two doses.
There are now around 3,000 vaccination sites across the country, of which almost half are pharmacies. But thousands of high street chemists that wanted to take part in the Covid vaccination campaign were snubbed by health officials, figures show.
More than 4,700 pharmacies submitted ‘expressions of interest’ in helping out with jabs, according to figures recently published in a parliamentary answer.
But of those just under 1,500 were accepted, resulting in some 1,336 community pharmacies currently helping out in the booster campaign.
Nick Kaye, vice chairman of the National Pharmacy Association, said: ‘It’s scandalous so many have been turned down. The NHS should be aiming to commission maximum provision as this is a moment of national emergency.
‘The queues outside current sites tell their own story.’
NHS England said: ‘There are nearly 1,500 pharmacies delivering boosters compared to fewer than 1,000 in October.’