Nine out of 10 people aged 65 and over have now had their first covid vaccine, NHS England announced today, as invites to those aged 60 to 63 began landing on doormats.
The NHS vaccination programme, the biggest in the health service’s history, has jabbed more than more than 17 million people in England – and 20 million across the UK – in a matter of weeks, including four in five people aged 65 to 69.
People aged 64 were invited to have a jab last week and 1.9 million letters have started arriving at the homes of those aged 60 to 63 today (March 1) explaining how they can arrange a vaccination through the national booking service
Those most at risk are being vaccinated first in line with guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and immunisation.
The latest batch of invites arriving from today will mean everyone in the first seven priority groups will have been offered a jab.
Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS’s national medical director, said: “In just a few months, the NHS has made extraordinary progress in vaccinating more than 17 million people across the country and it is incredible that more than nine out of 10 people aged 65 and over have already received potentially life-saving protection.
“It is down to the hard work of NHS staff, volunteers and all the others supporting the vaccination programme, that we can now invite everyone aged 60 to 63 years old to arrange an appointment to get jabbed as soon as possible.
“It is never too late to take up the offer and I would urge anyone eligible who has yet to do so to come forward and protect yourself and others.”
Last week, the NHS wrote to almost 450,000 people aged 64, as well as 600,000 at-risk individuals who have recently been asked to shield.
The efforts to get the most vulnerable people protected has paid off, with nine in 10 people in the first four priority groups having already been jabbed.
People can use the national booking service to reserve a slot at NHS Vaccination Centres or GP hubs.
The booking service can be accessed at http://www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination. Those who cannot go online can call 119 free of charge.
NHS teams are visiting those who are housebound and cannot travel to a vaccination service.
Vaccinations are now being administered at more than 1,500 sites across the country, including the former Saga call centre off Haine Road at Westwood.
Appointments are staggered to allow for social distancing and people are being asked not to turn up early to avoid creating queues.
Everyone will receive a health status check and a pre-vaccination assessment before they have their jab.
Four out of five is 80%. Nine out of 10 is 90%. Your article includes both figures.
Different cohort? 90% of all over 65; 80% of 65-69s? Hopefully this is just a timing issue and not an indication of younger people refusing the vaccine.
It will hardly matter whether it’s 80% or 90% if the Brazilian variant takes off. It’ll be back to square one.
Aren’t the vaccines likely to still offer a high level of immunity against the various strains? It appears it will decrease the effectiveness to some degree, but it would take something that behaves very differently to the original to make it totally ineffective.
Exactly Steve. We’re very unlikely to be “back to square one”.
Nope. This newest variant from Manaus is likely to balls things up massively. It doesn’t need to behave that differently at all, epidemiologically speaking. It just requires a mutation that the vaccine hasn’t accounted for. Several spike mutations at once etc.
I hope to goodness that you’re right!
The figures are from the NHS and are being applied generally to all ages 65 and over and then specifically to those in the 65-69 group
71% of 194 women surveyed agreed.
I had mine in Minster on Saturday (the Pfizer vaccine, not that I care which one I have). Apart from sleeping well that night and a slightly sore arm, I had no real after-effects. So if you get the invite, go for it!
I will not-due to prior bad reactions. The big problem is not the immediate side-effects as they are usually mild, or in the worst case you are still there & can be treated for breathing problems, but the potential for long term issues down the line, as due to the rush to market & lack of long-term studies nobody knows the likelihood of for instance auto-immune disorders which are not all that uncommon.
Better than dying now of Covid.
Totally agree with u .
If you don’t have COVID vaccine then your asking for trouble .
The only way we will be back to normal is to get vaccine.
Government should clamp down on people who refuse maybe not let them go back to normal when things reopen . No vaccine / no entry
The government advice is not to have it if you have had bad reactions to multiple other medicines , vaccinations & food in the past & some cannot have it for other medical reasons. Plus when are people going to get jabs? My first jab isn’t due until possibly August going by the Omni calculator-so when does your idea come into practice exactly? Your idea not only goes against government policy, but is very badly thought out Sun/Daily Mail level thinking.
As for asking for trouble you need to get a grip on reality, the average age of death from it is 82-83 years & predominantly people with underlying health problems-obesity, severe asthma etc. The vast majority of those who get it either have no symptoms, or they are very mild. If 1984 is what you want & soldiers injecting people at gunpoint or refusing food to people if they don’t comply then maybe North Korea or some other despot Banana Republic is more your style.
Never heard of the Nuremberg Code or adverse side effects being registered with the MHRA (UK) and CDC (US) and similar across the world? Or the level of health workers not taking up the jab for good reasons. Or the fact that the jab doesn’t stop you getting the virus, or passing it on, according to gov. pronouncements. The similar status rushed to the market swine flu jab ended up with actions for vaccine damage in the appeal court. A group damaged where health workers, and other actions across the world included children. To make the jab mandatory will be legally impossible as many lawyers have said across the world – for very good reasons. In the same way, we could ask all overweight people to slim down as they are a potential risk to the NHS. Some wouldn’t like that.
Vaccine passports are a good idea. I agree with M.
In your case with heart problems etc it would be a good idea, for some of us the risks & lack of guarantee of how long any immunity lasts if any at all & long lasting side effects outweigh any potential benefits-considering most people who contract it either have no symptoms or very mild ones like a cold or bug. The only one I could have is the Oxford jab anyway, but according to what I have found online you get what you are given, you cannot demand which one you get.
Democrat is talking rubbish, again.
The vaccines suppress symptoms so if you get CV you don’t get seriously ill and end up in hospital or worse.
The vaccines DO suppress transmission, too; the more people are vaccinated, the more Covid is squashed.
Take up by some healthcare professionals is low, probably because many such people come from BAME backgrounds, and there are religious and cultural concerns about vaccines. There is not one serious medical or scientific body in the UK saying people generally shouldn’t be vaccinated. Quite the opposite.
No one in the UK is obliged to take the vaccine. But there will be consequences for families, friends, neighbours, work mates, fellow travellers and so on.
Bring on Vaccine Passports. People have a right not to be vaccinated. I have a right nit to have to share a pub, train or plane with them.
You are sadly ill-informed.
There has been no rush.
The vaccines currently being offered in the UK are basically slightly tweaked versions of vaccines developed decades ago for SARS and MERS.
There was never any doubt about their safety. The phase 3 trials were to evaluate efficacy.
There might be side effects from the vaccine; a side effect of CV is death.
So far, more than 120,000 people have died from CV (almost twice the civilian deaths during WW2). If the death rate stays the same, another 120,000 will die by next March.
Best thing to do is have the jab, unless your GP says not.
Vaccine progress has been astounding during this pandemic and it is the only route out of this globally.
Besides which, there’s barely a bobby on the beat in Thanet unless there’s a live animal export protest, so I doubt the army will be here any time soon to marshal us all up to the Mecca Bingo car park with the threat of no biscuits ringing in our ears.
“Nine out of 10 people aged 65 and over have now had their first covid vaccine, NHS England announced today, as invites to those aged 60 to 63 began landing on doormats.”
What have the unfortunate 64-year-olds done to be excluded?
Seriously though, well done to everyone involved in this.
It also says “People aged 64 were invited to have a jab last week”.
Whoops, missed that! Lockdown-brain-rot has obviously affected my ability to read the whole article.
So , how can the news say than that 20 million are now already vaccinated, when the up to 63 are not vaccinated now ? do we have 20 million over 63 plus nhs services ?
I had Covid for real and it’s nasty. I’ve had the jab now too at the Saga building and I felt a bit off for a couple of days but that’s nothing. My brother has been invited now but to get his the only option offered on the booking site is Deal! He doesn’t drive. Why he can’t go to the Saga building I do not know.