COVID-19: People aged 21 and 22 can reserve coronavirus vaccine from today | UK News

About one million people between the ages of 21 and 22 are now eligible to book their coronavirus vaccination.

Some 972,000 text messages will be sent from today, inviting them to make an appointment for the two doses via the national reservation system.

Dr Emily Lawson, head of the NHS COVID vaccination program, said that ‘the biggest NHS vaccination campaign ever is on the home stretch of the first dose rollout’, and getting the vaccine is’ the most important step you can take to protect yourself. , your friends and family, so it is very important that everyone in the last qualifying groups sign up to get their jabs and play their part in this huge national effort. ”

The final step will mean that only young people between the ages of 18 and 20 have not yet been called, which should arrive by the end of this week.

Over 60 million doses have been administered and the program is now entering its final stages – six months after 90-year-old Margaret Keenan became the first person in the UK to be vaccinated with an approved vaccine.

Just a week ago the program opened to every 25-29 year old and they intensified in number, by making more than a million appointments in a single day.

There were concerns that young people, who face a much lower risk of serious illness from COVID-19, would hesitate to get vaccinated.

But Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of the NHS, said the response saw those fears “blow out of the water”.

According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, positive sentiment for the vaccine among those under 30 has increased significantly since the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in December – from 63% and then to 85% at the end of May. .

Images of walk-in vaccination clinics across the country, including Bolt and Twickenham, showed that when they were allowed to receive the jab, many young people came forward.

Such a response shouldn’t come as a surprise because in many …