EVERY adult in England will be able to book their first Covid-19 vaccination from the end of this week, the head of the NHS has disclosed on Tuesday (15), a day after UK prime minister Boris Johnson announced that the Delta variant of the coronavirus has derailed his roadmap for easing restrictions as planned on June 21.
Appointment slots will be opened to everyone aged 18 and above within a few days to help the health service “finish the job” of vaccinating the entire adult population, Sir Simon Stevens said in a speech to the NHS Confederation’s annual conference.
“Today people aged 23 and 24 are able to book through the national booking service and I expect that by the end of this week we’ll be able to open up the national booking service to all adults aged 18 and above,” Stevens said, adding that 91 per cent of people over-50 in England have received both vaccine doses.
He said it is vital that almost six million Britons aged 40 or over get their second dose of vaccine in the weeks between now and July 19, the delayed date on which Johnson hopes to ease restrictions in the country on social mixing.
The update comes as surge testing, tracing, isolation support and maximising vaccine uptake have been rapidly deployed in Birmingham, Blackpool, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Liverpool City Region and Warrington in light of rising Covid-19 cases in these areas.
The support is the same package that was deployed in Greater Manchester and Lancashire last Tuesday (8) after it showed results in Bolton, Gov.UK said.
As part of the enhanced support package, extra guidance will be set out for the six areas on steps such as minimising travel in and out of the affected areas, supervised in-school testing and discretion to reintroduce face coverings in indoor communal areas, maximising vaccine uptake by expanding existing channels, surge testing and enhanced contact tracing.
Daily new cases in the UK have been on the rise, touching 7,742 on Monday (14) along with three deaths.
Meanwhile, Johnson is determined the remaining restrictions will definitely be lifted on July 19, No 10 said, despite concern that a rise in deaths can force a change of plan.
Johnson reportedly finalised the four-week delay to the planned easing of lockdown restrictions, after scientific advisers warned of a "significant resurgence" in people needing hospital treatment if it went ahead on June 21.
Clifford had previously denied killing Carol Hunt, 61, the wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters, Louise Hunt, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads guilty to crossbow murders of BBC presenter’s family
A 26-YEAR-OLD man on Wednesday pleaded guilty to murdering two daughters of a BBC sports commentator and stabbing to death their mother in a crossbow attack.
Kyle Clifford had previously denied killing Carol Hunt, 61, the wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters, Louise Hunt, 25, and Hannah Hunt, 28.
However, appearing via video link at Cambridge Crown Court in eastern England, Clifford changed his pleas.
The court heard that Clifford tied up Louise Hunt, his former partner, binding her arms and ankles with duct tape before shooting her in the chest with a crossbow at the family home last July.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, one count of false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons. However, Clifford denied raping Louise.
The murders took place at the family home in the commuter town of Bushey, near Watford, northwest of London.
Clifford was arrested in July following a manhunt after the bodies of the three women were discovered.
(With inputs from AFP)