No10 brags about hitting 1m daily jab target on Saturday
Sajid Javid today bragged that the UK finally hit a million jabs administered in a single day — as the country repeatedly fails to hit Boris Johnson’s booster goal.
Mr Javid triumphantly announced on Twitter this afternoon that ‘over a MILLION jabs were delivered across the UK on Saturday – what an achievement’.
But a closer look at the figures shows that number includes first, second and third doses delivered that day to inflate the total number of jabs to 1,024,833.
The million-jabs-a-day goal is the white whale of the UK’s Covid booster programme after Mr Johnson pledged to turbocharge the booster rollout a week ago, a target the campaign has continually failed to reach.
His tweet came just minutes after it emerged the country failed to hit Boris Johnson’s million booster doses per day target for the seventh day in a row.
A total of 846,466 third doses were administered across the country on Sunday, latest figures show, down on the 904,598 on Saturday.
The Health Secretary’s bragging came as Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson today insisted No10 will still hit its goal of offering every adult in the UK a Covid booster jab by New Year, despite falling short every day since it was announced.
The UK now needs to administer 2.1million booster jabs a day to have every eligible adult get one by the end of the year. At the current rate of 700k boosters per week, every eligible Briton won’t get a booster until January 26
Currently, the UK is managing to roll-out 750,000 boosters-per-day on average, with about 25million people still needing their third jab.
This means at the current of vaccination, every adult will have received their booster by January 22. But even if the Government managed to deliver 1million doses a day, it would still miss its deadline.
The programme now needs to more than double the number to 2.1million doses-a-day, including on Christmas and Boxing Day, to meet the end-of-year target.
Speaking today, the PM’s spokesperson insisted No10 still had faith in the programme: ‘We still believe we can hit the ambitious target we have set.’
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It comes as the number of people eligible for a booster shot is starting to shrink as Covid cases grow rapidly due to the highly infectious Omicron variant.
NHS Covid vaccination guidelines state that people who catch Covid must wait 28 days from their positive test or first symptom before they can get the jab.
Further hampering the rollout, a vaccine clinic in Lambeth, south London was today forced to shut after an order of the jabs failed to arrive. And three sites in the area administered fewer injections over the weekend due to delivery problems.
There has been confusion regarding the Government’s booster programme goal, with the wording shifting from ‘giving’ every adult a jab to merely ‘offering’ every adult one.
Boris Johnson pictured today entering No10 is under increasing pressure as Omicron cases continue to rise and the booster programme fails to keep pace
People queuing up to get a Covid booster today in Edinburgh, while more and more people are rolling up their sleeves to get their third jab the UK’s rollout is still lagging behind the stated goal of 1million jabs a day
New push to cut ten-day Covid isolation period to a week
Ministers are considering slashing the quarantine period for people who test positive for Covid from ten to seven days.
As reported in Saturday’s Daily Mail, health experts, MPs and business leaders have called for a change, warning that the current rules risk crippling healthcare and the economy.
Anyone who is infected with the virus must isolate for ten days after first developing symptoms or testing positive.
But the ‘blunt tool’ fails to account for infectiousness and is fuelling ‘lockdown by stealth’ by keeping so many people at home.
The aim of this four-week wait is so to avoid any confusion between any potential vaccine side effects and Covid symptoms.
It also means that the number of people who are increasingly catching Omicron can no longer receive a booster as this 28-day waiting period will now mean they can’t get vaccinated until January.
Under the rule, the last day someone could catch Covid and still be eligible for a booster on New Year’s Eve was December 3.
According to Government data this means 994,926 people who have already caught Covid in that time are effectively ineligible for a booster.
And the number is expected to soar in the coming weeks, as hundreds of thousands more test positive.
It’s not clear how many of these are already boosted, however.
While this data might include a small number of people who may already have had a booster, as well as children over the age of 12 who are still getting their second dose, the vast majority will be adults over the age of 20.
The UK Health Security Authority’s latest report suggests that 82 per cent of people who tested positive for Covid at the start of December were over 20-years-old, indicating that about 818,824 adults are now ineligible for the booster.
Based on the most recent UK Covid cases data which starts to account for the surge in Omicron cases the UK is experiencing, with 547,606 cases between December 13-19, about 450,000 adults could be becoming ineligible for the booster every week.
The number of confirmed cases of Omicron in England increased by 69 per cent on the previous day’s total – up 9,427 to 23,168, figures from the UKHSA showed today
Even if half of these were boosted, with 48.8 per cent of the adult population having received a third dose, this still leaves more than 200,000 unable to get a booster this month.
The figures come as health secretary Mr Javid hit out at people who have chosen not to be vaccinated against Covid as they ‘take up hospital beds’ that could be used for patients in need.
Mr Javid said those who are eligible for a jab but have decided not to take up the offer, are having a ‘damaging impact’ on others.
Vaccine clinic forced to shut after consignment of jabs is not delivered
Insufficient vaccine supply in south London is hampering the booster rollout, a GP revealed today.
Dr Rosemary Leonard, a GP in Lambeth, today warned that efforts to get more boosters in arms are being ‘hampered by ‘hugely disappointing’ delivery problems that have left ‘a lot of patients really upset’.
One clinic in Lambeth was today forced to shut after an order of the jabs failed to arrive.
And three sites in the area administered fewer injections over the weekend due to delivery problems.
There are 19 walk-in and pop-up jab clinics in the area and it is not clear which have been affected.
Dr Rosemary told BBC Breakfast: ‘It was a busy Saturday morning vaccinating in our three practices together but unfortunately, we were limited on how many vaccines we could give.
‘We’ve had a vaccine clinic cancelled today because in Lambeth here we didn’t get our deliveries of vaccines late on Friday afternoon, which is hugely disappointing and a lot of patients were really upset they had booked appointments and couldn’t get their vaccinations as planned.’
She added: ‘We are desperately hoping we get the delivery later today for tomorrow’s clinic because we are booking in far more patients than we were first time around. We’re really having a heavy drive.
‘When we found out we weren’t getting any, the first thing you do is ring around the other local vaccine centres and say, “have you got any spare?” and everyone was in the same boat.’
The NHS said people should not be concerned as there are sufficient doses of the vaccine in London.
He said 10 per cent of the eligible population – more than five million people – still had not received their jabs, and around nine out of 10 of those needing the most care in hospital were unvaccinated.
Speaking on Trevor Phillips On Sunday on Sky News, he said: ‘I just cannot emphasise enough the impact that they are having on the rest of society.
‘They must really think about the damage they are doing to society by… they take up hospital beds that could have been used for someone with maybe a heart problem, or maybe someone who is waiting for elective surgery.
‘But instead of protecting themselves and protecting the community they choose not to get vaccinated.
‘They are really having a damaging impact and I just can’t stress enough, please do come forward and get vaccinated.’
But Dr Rosemary Leonard, a GP in Lambeth, today warned that efforts to get more boosters in arms are being hampered by delivery problems.
She said one vaccine centre in the area was forced to shut today due to insufficient supplies, while over the weekend three sites could not give out as many jabs as planned due to delivery problems.
There are 19 walk-in and pop-up jab clinics in the area and it is not clear which have been affected.
Dr Leonard told BBC Breakfast: ‘It was a busy Saturday morning vaccinating in our three practices together but unfortunately, we were limited on how many vaccines we could give.
‘We’ve had a vaccine clinic cancelled today because in Lambeth here we didn’t get our deliveries of vaccines late on Friday afternoon, which is hugely disappointing and a lot of patients were really upset they had booked appointments and couldn’t get their vaccinations as planned.’
She added: ‘We are desperately hoping we get the delivery later today for tomorrow’s clinic because we are booking in far more patients than we were first time around. We’re really having a heavy drive.
‘When we found out we weren’t getting any, the first thing you do is ring around the other local vaccine centres and say, “have you got any spare?” and everyone was in the same boat.’
The NHS said people should not be concerned as there are sufficient doses of the vaccine in London.
Will Huxter, director of NHS London’s Covid vaccination programme, said: ‘There is enough supply of the vaccine to offer doses to those due them, and we are seeing record numbers of Covid vaccinations across the capital and our focus is on ensuring these vaccines get to people as quickly as possible so they can get the vital protection they need against the virus.
‘Over 650,000 vaccine doses were delivered in London last week – a record for the NHS vaccination programme in London – and this week we will be continuing to offer vaccinations at hundreds of pharmacy and GP sites, hospitals and vaccination centres across the capital so please do book an appointment or go to a walk in site near you.’