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NHS staff and volunteers will be offering first, second and booster jabs at hundreds of sites across the country today as the national mission to protect the country against covid-19 continues.

Bath racecourse, Redbridge Town Hall in London, Blackburn Cathedral and St John’s shopping centre in Preston are among the locations offering jabs.

A dance studio in Gloucester, Long Stratton Village Hall in Norfolk and St Theodore’s Church in the Midlands will also be vaccinating today, in addition to dozens of high-street pharmacies and local chemists.

GP and deputy lead for the NHS vaccination programme, Dr Nikki Kanani stressed that people can still get a first or second dose or a top-up after 31 December, the deadline the Government set for all eligible adults to be offered a jab.

The NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme, the biggest and most successful in health service history, has been accelerated because of the threat of Omicron.

Scientists have found that two doses of vaccine do not provide enough protection against the new strain but that a top-up hugely boosts protection.

Many people will not have been able to get a jab because they caught Covid in recent weeks but you can receive one 28 days after becoming infected.

There are around 1.5 million appointments available online or over the phone through the national booking service in the first week of 2022.

The NHS’s top family doctor is today urging everyone who has not received a Covid booster to get the life-saving jab without delay and start the new year with the best possible protection.

Dr Kanani urged all those who have caught the virus, or have not yet taken up the offer for other reasons, to book a vaccination without delay and make it a ‘Jabby New Year’.

Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and deputy lead for the NHS vaccination programme, said: “It is thanks to the tireless efforts of NHS staff that 28 million people have received their vital boost in protection since September, and incredibly more than 110 million vaccinations have been administered in just over a year.

“Countless records have been broken in recent weeks as the biggest and most successful drive in health ahistory accelerated in order to offer all adults the opportunity to book their top-up dose in the face of Omicron.

“With Covid cases continuing to rise rapidly, the best resolution you can make this New Year is to protect yourself and those around you, so I urge you to come forward for your booster as soon as you can.

“Hundreds of thousands of appointments are available for booster, first and second doses in the coming days, so whatever vaccination you are due it is not too late to make it a Jabby New Year.”

Since Omicron emerged the NHS Covid vaccination programme has delivered back to back records with more than 9,500,000 jabs administered, including over 830,000 boosters on the “super Saturday” December 19 and more than 200,000 ‘jingle jabs’ over the peak festive season between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

In total, more than 30 million people have been invited to book online with 3.9 million letters, nearly 27 million text messages and almost 15 million emails sent.

Local teams have also been inviting and visiting their patients to ensure those who are most vulnerable to covid can get their top up protection as quickly as possible, with everyone who is eligible having been invited for a jab.
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said:
“We’ve had a tremendous week of vaccinations, breaking records across the board for festive and bank holiday vaccination numbers.
“A huge thank you needs to be paid to the NHS staff and volunteers who have worked over Christmas and now over New Year’s, getting jabs in arms and playing their part in getting the nation protected from COVID-19.
“With sites open up and down the country today, what better way to kick off the New Year than to get your booster and secure protection for yourself and your loved ones – please Get Boosted Now.”

The NHS has delivered 8.7m boosters since the Prime Minister called for every adult to be offered a jab by the end of the year.

In response to the threat of the new variant, vaccination sites have been asked to operate 12 hours a day, seven days a week wherever possible and in every community, there should be slots available at least 16 hours a day – with some sites extending to 24-hour operation to make it easier for people who work shift patterns.

With people failing to show up to around one in ten of all bookings vaccination centres asked to factor this into their planning and add more appointments each day.

Every adult care home has been visited by GP led teams and almost 9 in ten people who are immunosuppressed have had their booster as the NHS offered additional incentives to vaccinate the most vulnerable as quickly as possible.

There are now around 3,000 sites across the country – more than at any point of the NHS COVID-19 vaccination rollout – and including double the number of hospitals offering jabs to the public.

The NHS made history when Maggie Keenan received the first Pfizer jab outside of clinical trials in December last year, and in the year since hard-working staff and volunteers have delivered more than 110 million doses, including 28 million boosters across England.

Source: gov.uk Jan 1st