Ministers should "get on with the booster programme" rather than waiting for sign-off from the vaccine experts, Jeremy Hunt has said.
Tory former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned that "even a few days can make a big difference" during the pandemic as he urged the Government to press ahead with offering booster jabs to millions.
The NHS has been ordered to prepare for a mass booster programme this autumn but experts on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are still considering whether to recommend the move.
The JCVI, which advises the Government on the vaccine rollout, has come under increasing pressure to speed up its decision-making on boosters as well as whether to inoculate 12 to 15-year-olds.
Mr Hunt, who chairs the Commons Health Committee, pointed to a rise in hospital admissions in Israel from the Delta variant, which began to fall once boosters were introduced.
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"I understand why scientists are taking their time but I think in a pandemic politicians can also read the rooms and see the direction of travel," he told Today.
"I think Anthony Harnden, on your programme yesterday gave a very clear hint - he's from the JCVI that decides these things - that they are likely to recommend boosters.
"In a pandemic I think even a few days can make a big difference.
"So I think we should just get on, not wait for that advice, get on with a booster programme."
Boris Johnson said rolling out boosters to older Brits was a "priority" on Thursday in a sign that an announcement could be approaching.
Asked if he wanted the experts to "hurry up a bit" with jabs for over-12s, and boosters for older people, the Prime Minister replied: “I think you’re absolutely right that the priorities now are the older generation going into Autumn and Winter.
“We’ve always said there will be a booster programme in September, this month, and we’re going ahead with that.
“What I would also say is 16, 17-year-olds are eligible, they’ve been approved, they’re a very important group for potential transmission and I would urge all 16, 17-year-olds… to get your jab.
“Yes, 88% of everybody over 16 in this country has had a jab, 78% have had two jabs, it’s a huge huge success for the programme but there are still some who need that protection and I just urge everybody who hasn’t yet had one, go get that."
Around 500,000 Brits with compromised immune systems will get a third dose of the vaccine, the Government has said.
But the JCVI said this does not technically count as a booster programme as it would be offered to people whose first two jabs may not have worked.
