Young people who’ve been filled with vaccine envy for weeks will be thrilled to hear the vaccination programme is now open to people aged 30 and 31 years old – with twenty-somethings soon to follow them.
From Wednesday (May 26), vaccinations will be open to everyone in their thirties.
One million more people aged 30 and 31 will be invited by text over the coming days, leaving only adults between 18 and 29 yet to get their vaccination nod.
Those aged 39 and under who are now eligible, plus pregnant women, will be offered the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine where possible.
This comes after the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) updated its guidance to state that those under 40 should be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, due to a link with rare blood clots. The risk is very low, but slightly higher in younger adults.
The NHS has now delivered almost 32 million first doses of the jab, and well over 19 million of adults have had both doses, giving them maximum protection from the virus.
Everyone who is eligible to take up the offer of a jab is being urged to do so at one of the 1,600 locations across the country, including mosques, museums and football grounds.
“Getting the vaccine is the single most important step we can take to protect ourselves, our families and our communities against COVID-19 with the jabs saving thousands of lives already and today the biggest and most successful NHS covid vaccination programme in history is rolling out to everyone in their thirties,” GP and national medical director for primary care Dr Nikki Kanani said.
“The offer of a vaccine doesn’t expire so if you are eligible and haven’t booked please do come forward when you’re invited to.”
On the advice of the government and the JCVI, people aged 50 and over and the clinically vulnerable are having their second doses brought forward to counter the spread of the Indian variant. Nobody needs to contact the NHS and people will be told to rebook if they need to.
Health secretary Matt Hancock said the vaccination programme was moving at a “phenomenal pace” with the NHS booking in record numbers of people.
When invited, people will be able to book at one of the vaccination centres, pharmacies or general practice sites across the country that are available through the national booking service.
Text invitations appear as an alert from ‘NHSvaccine’, including a web link to the NHS website to reserve an appointment. More appointments are being added to the National Booking Service every day. People who cannot go online can call the service on 119 instead to book their jab.
“I am delighted that less than 6 months after Margaret Keenan received the first authorised jab in the world, we are now able to open the offer to everyone in their thirties and over,” Hancock said, adding his thanks to “everyone who has rolled up their sleeves to help us roll out this life-saving jab”.
“The vaccine is our way out of this pandemic and recent data has shown the life-saving protection a second dose of the jab can give, especially against the new variant. I urge everyone to come forward when you get the offer and play a part in getting us back to normality.”