The Prime Minister is to hold a Covid-19 press conference today (Monday 15 November) at 3pm, Downing Street has said.
Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and the chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty will be joining Boris Johnson for the conference.
Earlier today, it was announced that Covid booster jabs would be offered to healthy 40 to 49-year-olds.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said all adults over the age of 40 should be offered a booster, six months after their second dose.
They should be offered the Pfizer or Moderna jab as a booster, irrespective of which vaccine they had initially.
So far, booster jabs have only been available for people aged 50 and over, health and social care workers or people aged 16 and over with certain health conditions.
To date, some 12.6 million people have had a third Covid-19 jab.
The JCVI has also said that 16 and 17-year-olds should come forward for a second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab – which should be given at least 12 weeks after the first.
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson has urged the public to take up the offer of a booster jab.
Speaking on a visit to a medical centre in east London this morning, Boris Johnson said: “I think it’s very good news that the JCVI has today authorised the booster programme to be rolled out to everybody 40-plus, and when you look at what’s happening in the pandemic at the moment, just hearing in Newham sadly there are people in ITU, in intensive care, who are suffering badly from Covid, but they’re all the unvaccinated.
“And what’s happening is if you can get your booster then your immunity goes right back up to 95%.
"So far we’ve got 75% of everybody over 70 getting a booster, there’s a huge number of people, but it’s that further 25% that will make all the difference to winter, to Christmas, to our plans going forward, because it’s that extra level of protection that we really need.
“So the message is: anybody over 70, come forward, get your booster; anybody over 50, come forward and get your booster, and now, in the next week or so, anybody over 40 as well, come forward and get your booster.”
