COVID-19: People Over 45 Can Now Book Vaccine Appointments On NHS Website After Latest Target Reached | Political news

Those over 45 can now reserve their COVID vaccines after the government hits its goal of offering a first dose to the nine most vulnerable groups – including all over 50s.

The NHS website now says people aged 45 or over can book their jab dates.

It comes after the government’s goal of offering a first dose of vaccine to priority groups one through nine was reached three days earlier.

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Ministers had promised to offer a COVID-19 vaccine to everyone over 50, clinically vulnerable workers, and health and social service workers – about 32 million people – by Thursday.

Almost 40 million doses of the vaccine have now been administered across the UK.

This includes 32,190,576 first doses and 7,656,205 second doses.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said “another hugely important step” has now been taken in the UK’s vaccination program.

“This means that more than 32 million people have received the precious protective vaccines against COVID-19,” he added.

“I would like to thank everyone involved in the deployment of the vaccine which has already saved thousands of lives.

“We will now move forward with the completion of the second essential doses and make progress towards our goal of providing all adults with a vaccine by the end of July.”

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens has confirmed that 19 of the 20 people most at risk of COVID have now been vaccinated.

“Thanks to our NHS nurses, doctors, pharmacists, line managers and thousands of other staff and volunteers, the NHS COVID vaccination program is arguably the most successful in our history. “, did he declare.

“This is one of our tickets to get out of this pandemic and offers real hope for the future.”

Ministers recently offered assurances that the ambition to provide all UK adults with a vaccine by the end of July remains achievable.

They re-committed to hitting the target after last week’s recommendation to give those under 30 a …