From this week everyone, in England, aged over 18 and who is waiting for a third vaccine dose will be eligible to receive their booster.
The announcement was made by Boris Johnson, last night, during a TV address to the public and shortly after the UK’s Covid alert level had been moved from three to four.
An alert level of four – the second-highest possible rating – now means that there is a high or rising level of transmission.
In a statement, the Chief Medical Officers and NHS England’s Stephen Powis said the emergence of Omicron “adds additional and rapidly increasing risk to the public and healthcare services”.
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The Government has set a target to give boosters to all adults who wish to have one by the end of December.
Scotland is also setting the same target and aiming to offer all adults a booster by the end of the year, and Northern Ireland said it is stepping up its rollout and hopes to get as many people as possible boosted by then.
To allow for the Government’s goal to be met some medical appointments will be postponed so that greater focus can be given to administering boosters.
Mr Johnson said during his TV statement “no one should be in any doubt, there is a tidal wave of Omicron coming”.
He said: “I’m afraid we’re now facing an emergency in our battle with the new variant Omicron.
How can I take up the offer of a booster?
Anyone aged 30 and over can already arrange an appointment in advance using the NHS’s online service once two months have passed since they had their second dose.
Over 18s will be offered the same opportunity to do so from this Wednesday, December 15.
From today, some walk-in appointments will be available for eligible over-18s – though this will be dependent on location.
Anyone looking to make use of this service can find their nearest walk-in centre by visiting the NHS website.
Yesterday, the UK recorded some 48,854 new Covid cases – the overall total since the pandemic began is nearly at 11 million.
Cases relating specifically to the Omicron variant grew by 1,239 on Sunday and now stand at 3,137.
The total number of Omicron cases has more than doubled since Friday when at that point 1,265 cases had been officially confirmed.
New modelling from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) has predicted between 25,000 and 75,000 more deaths could be caused by the variant if no extra measures are imposed.
Source: | This article first appeared on Express.co.uk