All over 70s to be offered Covid jab by February 15th in bid to end lockdown
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Boris Johnson has outlined the UK's plan to get as many people vaccinated against coronavirus as possible during England's third lockdown.
Speaking from Downing Street, the PM said: "We are doing our best to throw an invisible shield around the elderly and the vulnerable in the form of vaccination to begin to bring this pandemic to an end."
By February 15 the NHS is committed to offering everyone in the top 4 priority groups a vaccine. Mid-February is also when the latest national lockdown is due to be reviewed for the first time.
That includes care home staff, front-line NHS staff, anyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable and anyone aged over 70.
When asked by a journalist whether parts of the country will still be in lockdown by March, Johnson replied: "We think that by February, when a large cohort of the most vulnerable have been vaccinated, then there really is the prospect of beginning the relaxation of some of these measures."
More detail on the vaccine roll out will be given at another press conference on Thursday, with daily televised updated beginning again from next Monday.
Boris Johnson was joined by England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Witty and the UK's Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance as he held the press conference from No.10 Downing Street on Tuesday afternoon.
More than 1.3million people have received their first coronavirus vaccination so far in the UK, with the first Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs being rolled out on Monday.
That includes 650,000 people aged over 80 – meaning 1-in-4 of the most vulnerable have already been vaccinated.
Mr Johnson has previously said that "with a fair wind in our sails" it should be possible to vaccinate 13 million of the most vulnerable people by mid-February, paving the way for controls to be eased.
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Top of the priority list are people who live and work in care homes, followed by people over the age of 80 and frontline health and social care workers, including NHS staff.
Next on the list are people over the age of 75, and the fourth group are people aged 70 and those classed as clinically extremely vulnerable.
The press conference was held just half an hour after the news broke that the UK is now recording more Covid cases every 24 hours than at any time before during the pandemic.
Data released on Tuesday, January 5, shows that the UK's coronavirus death toll has risen by 830, with 60,916 new cases in 24 hours – the highest amount since the pandemic began.
The high number of Covid patients has seen numerous hospitals across the country declare major incidents with widespread fears that the NHS may be overwhelmed if infections can't be reduced drastically.
When will national lockdown end? Date restrictions finish – and what happens next
Yesterday, the PM plunged the entirety of England into a third national lockdown, with all schools closed and people ordered to remain at home.
In a televised address to the nation on Monday, January 4, the PM announced the new restrictions after a surge in cases following the discovery of a new variant of the deadly coronavirus last month.
It will last until at least mid-February, when it will be reviewed for the first time.
More than a million people have received their first coronavirus vaccination so far in the UK, with the first Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs being rolled out on Monday.
Mr Johnson has previously said that "with a fair wind in our sails" it should be possible to vaccinate 13 million of the most vulnerable people by mid-February, paving the way for controls to be eased.
Top of the priority list are people who live and work in care homes, followed by people over the age of 80 and frontline health and social care workers, including NHS staff.
Next on the list are people over the age of 75, and the fourth group are people aged 70 and those classed as clinically extremely vulnerable.
What have you made of the UK's handling of the coronavirus pandemic? Let us know in the comments below.
- Coronavirus
- Lockdown
- Boris Johnson
- NHS
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