Brits in their 30s set to be offered Covid vaccines ‘within DAYS after 40m Pfizer jabs deal’
BRITS in their thirties are set to be offered their Covid jabs within days, it has been reported.
The NHS will reportedly start inviting thirty-somethings for the vaccine by the end of next week, after securing 40million Pfizer doses for the UK.
🔵 Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest updates
Officials are close to finalising a deal to purchase tens of millions more doses of the Pfizer vaccine in time for a third booster dose to be given to the elderly this autumn, .
And government sources have told the paper they hope to roughly double the UK’s original order of 40 million jabs.
If negotiations are successful, the extra stock could be used for those in their twenties, who are to be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca jab amid blood clot fears.
It was recently projected that the 35 to 39 age group would be invited to book an appointment for their vaccine in the second half of May.
But according to The Times this could now happen much sooner.
Until now, it's been estimated those aged 30 to 35 could be called by late May or early June, with those aged 18 to 24 and 25 to 29 during the rest of June and July.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is still deciding whether those in their thirties will be given the the AstraZeneca vaccine or an alternative.
Officials believe the committee is leaning towards using AstraZeneca, to avoid slowing down the pace of the speedy rollout.
But its members are said to be divided: “It’s important to realise the JCVI is a very big group and there are lots of different voices,” a source told The Times.
An announcement is expected early this week.
More than half of the UK population, or 33.5 million people, have now received their first Covid does, while 12 million have also had their second.
Brits in their 40s began receiving their jabs earlier this month, with about 46 per cent of those aged 40 to 49 have had one already.
Roughly half the original order of 40 million doses has been delivered so far, but with clot fears limiting use of the AstraZeneca jab for under-30s, and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, officials are said to be looking to supplement stocks.
A Whitehall source said Downing Street had shelved plans to announce the Pfizer deal in the coming days for fear of further damaging the tense relationship with Europe, which has struggled with its vaccine programme.
Most read in Health News
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Our vaccination programme continues to make phenomenal progress – with over 45.5 million vaccines administered so far.
“As we've already said, we are preparing for a booster programme to take place later this year and we continue to plan for all scenarios.
"We hit our target to offer a vaccine to everyone in phase one of the vaccination programme and we are on track to offer a jab to all adults by the end of July.”
