More than three-quarters of eligible adults received their Covid booster jab before New Year’s Eve, NHS England has announced.
Over 28 million over-18s received their top-up jab by 30 December, with 1.5 million of these administered the weekend before Christmas and more than 830,000 delivered on Saturday alone.
Boosters have now been given to around 90% of eligible over-50s and 80% of over-30s in England, NHS England said.
Dr Emily Lawson, head of the NHS Covid Vaccination programme, said: ‘The fact that we have boosted more than three-quarters of eligible adults in such a short space of time shows just how hard our incredible staff have been working, together with volunteers, to protect people from the virus.’
It comes as the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that the Government has met its target for all eligible over-18s in England to be offered a Covid booster by 31 December.
GPs had been asked to clinically prioritise services to support the vaccination programme whilst delivering critical appointments such as emergency and cancer care.
In 2021, around 132 million Covid vaccinations were administered across the UK, the DHSC said.
