Covid jabs to be offered to over 32s TODAY as rollout races contagious Indian variant
OVER 33s are expected to be offered a coronavirus vaccine from today, with those aged 32 able to reserve their dose from Monday.
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NHS England is advancing the coronavirus vaccine programme to those over 33 years old - soon after 34-year-olds became eligible. It means a further one million Brits are able to book their Covid jabs from 7am.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock hailed the rollout, describing the latest news as "an incredible step forward in the biggest and most successful vaccination programme in NHS history".
Mr Hancock added: "This is truly a testament to the heroic work of our amazing NHS and care staff, volunteers and local authorities across the country who have helped deliver over 50 million jabs at lightning speed across England, keeping us on track to offer a vaccine to everyone by July.
"The vaccine has already saved thousands of lives and you are far less likely to get symptoms or be admitted to hospital if you get the jab."
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It coincides with the concerning spread of the Indian variant in parts of the country, after cases of the strain doubled in a week.
Public Health England (PHE) shared there have now been 3,424 confirmed cases of the B.1.617.2 variant in the UK as of Thursday, up from 1,313 cases last week.
PHE said: “Cases are still predominantly affecting the north-west of England – particularly Bolton – and London, but we are seeing clusters of cases across the country.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned the rapid spread of the Indian Covid variant could now pose “serious disruption to our progress” out of lockdown.
However, Mr Hancock said early results from tests at the University of Oxford University gave “a high degree of confidence” that vaccines do work against the Indian variant.
The vaccine rollout has continued at pace, with yesterday seeing 268,251 first doses and 420,312 second doses of Covid jabs.
In total, 37,518,614 first doses and 21,659,783 second doses have been administered, equalling 71.2 percent and 41.1 percent of the population respectively.
Yesterday the UK recorded another 2,829 cases and 9 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test.
In total 4,457,923 cases and 127,710 deaths have been recorded in the UK.