Thousands of people across the country will receive a Christmas Day booster jab as NHS vaccinators continue to work through England's population in the face of record Covid-19 case rates.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged people to “make the booster a part of your Christmas this year”, as figures showed the scale of the threat from the Omicron variant.
A further 122,186 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases were recorded in the UK as of 9am on Christmas Eve, another record daily figure, while 137 people died within 28 days of testing positive.
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There were 1,171 Covid-19 hospital admissions in the UK on December 20, up 30 percent week-on-week and the highest number since February 19.
Figures reported on December 23 showed a total of 32,290,487 booster and third doses have now been given, a day-on-day rise of 605,561.
NHS staff and volunteers will be dishing out more jabs on Christmas Day, with thousands of appointments booked to receive a vaccine at sites across England.
Dr Emily Lawson, head of the NHS Covid vaccination programme, said: “I want to thank every NHS staff member and volunteer who is helping to deliver Covid vaccinations today, in an effort to keep the booster roll-out going over the festive season and get as many people protected as possible.
“We have seen so many records broken in the lead up to Christmas Day, and it has been humbling to see first-hand the amazing work done at vaccination sites, who for the last year have gone above and beyond to get people vaccinated.
“And if you haven’t yet had your booster jab, come forward, book an appointment and give your loved ones the best possible gift by getting protected today.”
But while people in England can still get a jab on Christmas Day, vaccination clinics in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be closed.
Russell George, the Tory shadow health minister for Wales, said the decision not to offer jabs on Boxing Day either would be met with “much bemusement by families and businesses” as “we are in a race against Omicron”.
The threat posed by the Omicron wave was underlined by a “sobering” Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimate that 1.7 million people in the UK had Covid-19 in the week ending December 19, the highest number since comparable figures began in autumn 2020, the ONS said.
National statistician Sir Ian Diamond said that while there was some evidence people were engaging in “safer behaviour” it was “far too early to suggest that we will see anything other than a continued rise” in future weeks.
