People aged over 70 will start getting vaccine invitation letters today as the programme is rolled out to more groups.
Twenty-four hour vaccination sites will be piloted in London before the end of January, the vaccines minister has said.
Speaking to Sky News, Nadhim Zahawi said the NHS will be “targeting forensically who we want to protect” to ensure the most vulnerable people can be vaccinated first.
He said that as there is “limited supply” of the vaccine, “it needs to get into the arms of the most vulnerable” such as those who are elderly or clinically extremely vulnerable.
Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director for England, told Sky News the 24/7 pilot would be starting “within the next week or two”.
The current 8am to 8pm vaccination times have been working for the over-80s, and some areas of the UK have managed to give out first jabs to the majority of this age group.
In Darlington, all care home residents have been vaccinated already, the minister said.
But as the vaccine is administered to younger age groups, the 24/7 centres will help ensure more people can get their jabs – especially when it comes to working age people.
The vaccine programme has so far been concentrating on those aged 80 and over, care home residents and staff, and NHS staff, but from today it will be rolled out to the next two priority groups – those aged over 70 and any adult listed as clinically extremely vulnerable.
The first groups will remain the priority but vaccination sites that have supply and capacity will be allowed to vaccinate those in the next two groups as well.
Prof Powis told Sky News that “we can’t wait until we’ve vaccinated everybody” before moving down priority groups.
He added: “So this is the time to focus the priority on existing groups, but start to move down into the next priority groups.”
-Skynews
