Millions can get Spring booster jabs from TODAY – are you eligible?
BRITS over-75 and people with weak immune systems can book a second booster Covid jab from today.
They will get texts and letters from the NHS as it opens the online appointments system.
Older adults in care homes will be visited by NHS teams who will give jabs — as long as it has been six months since their last one.
Five million in total will receive either the Pfizer or Moderna jab this spring.
The over-50s are expected to be offered another top-up this year, probably in the autumn.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Our phenomenal vaccination programme has saved countless lives and built a wall of defence which has allowed us to learn to live with Covid.”
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NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard added: “We have protected millions of people at speed thanks to the efforts of our staff, aided by volunteers.
“They will once again rise to the next challenge.”
Ms Pritchard stressed: “There is no need to contact the NHS — when you are eligible for your spring boost, we will be in touch so you can book your appointment at one of hundreds of vaccination sites.”
This morning Mr Javid said scientists are working on plans to give all over-50s an extra booster jab this Autumn.
He said another vaccine rollout is being considered as he urged Brits who catch the virus to act like they have flu.
The UK Health Security Agency estimates since December 157,000 hospitalisations have been prevented by boosters.
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Since the start of the Omicron wave, over 100,000 people have been treated in hospital for Covid.
Getting vaccinated is still the best way to protect people from severe complications related to Covid, and various studies have shown that Omicron is a milder strain of the virus.
Around 4.5 million of the most vulnerable people had a top-up jab over autumn and winter.
It's hoped that the same enthusiasm will be seen for the fourth dose over the coming weeks.
In order to deal with the additional bookings, the NHS said it has recruited even more call handlers to the 119 service, in order to help people book their vaccine appointments.
Hundreds of sites, including community pharmacies, vaccination centres and hospital hubs will be giving out the boosters.
The launch of the fourth boosters come as Covid cases are up 38 per cent week on week with half a million people catching the virus in the past seven days.
Javid last week said that it was expected that once restrictions ended cases would rise, and experts urged people 'not to panic'.
A further 90,349 infections were recorded on Friday, but deaths have remained low.
Dr Simon Clarke, of Reading University, said: “I don’t think we should be panicking because it’s not filling up intensive care wards, which are the NHS’s real bottleneck.
“It’s the sub-variant of Omicron, BA.2, which is causing a lot of the problem but it doesn’t appear to be killing a lot of people."
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The Health Sec said Brits should continue to use a 'common sense' approach when feeling unwell.
He told BBC Breakfast: "If you’re not feeling well, if you’ve got the symptoms of Covid, then it’s not a good idea to mix with other people – the right idea is to try to spend some time trying to stay away from others."
Hunt on mission to crack GP crisis
NINE in ten GPs fear they are too busy to keep patients safe, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is warning.
It means ministers must commit to hiring more GPs and encouraging burnt-out doctors to stay in the NHS, he says.
His call comes after MPs heard last week that a third of all family doctors were set to retire within five years — many without replacements.
Mr Hunt said: “The workforce is the biggest issue facing the NHS.
"Forget fixing the backlog unless we urgently come up with a plan to train doctors for the future and retain ones we have.”
The Tory MP supports the British Medical Association’s Rebuild General Practice campaign, which is calling for 6,000 more NHS doctors by 2024.