COVID-19: People aged 32 and 33 now offered vaccines in England – as wastewater testing helps identify variants of epidemic | UK News

The coronavirus vaccine rollout extends to people aged 32 and 33 as of today.

One million more people will be able to book for a COVID jab following the latest change, with a total of 50 million jabs expected to be administered by the end of Saturday.

It comes as the government has revealed that two-thirds of England are now covered by a wastewater test for the virus.

Wastewater test can show where coronavirus cases are present, and even what variants are in each area.

He helped identify the need for surge testing in places like Bristol and Luton.

While samples cannot be traced back to individuals, the equipment can be installed in targeted areas such as food manufacturing sites and prisons.

A dedicated lab for the program was opened in Exeter in April, with 500 sites across England taking samples.

And in the future, the Department of Health and Welfare is hoping that the technology will be able to help monitor influenza outbreaks to predict which places will be severely affected.

The program manager at the Joint Biosecurity Center, Dr Andrew Engeli, said: “As infections decline and we move away from national restrictions, it is important to analyze wastewater for variants early on to help. local authorities and the NHS Test and Trace to act quickly to stop the variants. from spreading in communities. “

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This is the range of England R numbers slightly increased to between 0.9 and 1.1, up from 0.8 to 1.1.

This means that for every 10 people infected with the virus, between 9 and 11 others will be affected.

This follows the easing of lockdown restrictions and the rise of the Indian variant of the coronavirus – with over 3,400 cases in the UK.

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock reassured the public by pointing to the effectiveness of the UK’s vaccination efforts.

He said: “The vaccine has already saved thousands of lives and …