All over-50s in England are now eligible for a Covid vaccine as NHS expands roll-out to final stage
- Over-50s are the final priority group in the mass national vaccine roll-out
- An update to the NHS England website reads everyone over-50 can get the jab
- More than 24.4million Britons have already received a first dose, figures show
All over-50s in England are now eligible for a coronavirus vaccine.
An update to the NHS England website reads everyone ‘aged 50 or over’ can sign up for an appointment to get the jab.
The over-50s are the final jab priority group. Once they have all received a first dose the drive can be expanded to younger age groups.
More than 24.4million Britons have already received their first shot, as estimates show the UK is on course to inoculate half the adult population by Sunday.
The figures followed a bumper weekend, with almost 770,000 jabs dished out – with 512,108 given last Saturday alone.
It comes amid fears EU countries decision to temporarily suspend administering the AstraZeneca vaccine could cause some Britons to miss appointments.
With the number of doses available this week set to double to four million, the vaccine programme could reach the key milestone of jabbing half of all adults before the weekend.
Vaccine wastage is being recorded for the first time, and the NHS has begun texting invitations to younger age groups to make sure all appointment slots are filled.
The boost in supply has led NHS England to write to all vaccine providers, urging them to ensure they have the staff in place to step up capacity. Its letter states: ‘From the week of March 15 we are now asking systems to plan and support all vaccination centres and local vaccination services to deliver around twice the level of vaccine available in the week of March 1.’
MailOnline analysis shows Britain, which is working through the population by age, should be able to move on to the under-50s by March 29 at the latest, if it continues the current average of 280,000 first doses every day.
And if the rollout manages to double in speed – as officials hope will happen after a massive boost in supply from AstraZeneca — the under-50s target could be hit even earlier on March 20.
Ministers are aiming for at least 90 per cent of the adult population to take up the offer of a vaccine, equal to around 28.8million people in the top nine priority groups for vaccination, including all over-50s, health and care workers and people with long-term health conditions.
If the current rate is maintained, Britain will reach 50 per cent of its adult population – 26million out of 52m – by the end of this week.
More to follow…