Milestone in Covid-19 efforts as over a million jabs booked in one day

There were over one million bookings for a Covid-19 vaccine through the NHS website on Tuesday (June 8), a record high figure.

It was the first time daily appointments booked through the national booking service have topped the million mark.

“The ‘blockbuster’ surge in jabs being reserved on Tuesday is the latest landmark in the biggest and most successful vaccination drive in NHS history, as the NHS Covid-19 Vaccination programme opened up to people in their twenties and marked six months since the first vaccination was given,” the NHS said.

As eligibility extended to people aged 25 to 29 on Monday (June 7) morning, a total of 1,082,596 first and second dose slots were snapped up across the day online and by phone, around 45,000 an hour on average and more than 750 every minute, over the full 24 hours.

The daily total for the National Booking Service on Tuesday means around four times as many slots were booked compared with the day before and the same day last week.

Sir Simon Stevens, NHS chief executive, said: “Enthusiasm for the biggest and most successful vaccination programme remains strong as bookings for the lifesaving jab reached an all-time high yesterday, and the obvious enthusiasm of younger adults to get their jab has blown out of the water the suggestion that people in their 20s might not come forward to protect themselves and their loved ones.”

Dr Emily Lawson, lead for the NHS Covid-19 Vaccination Programme, said: “What I hope and expect we will see in the coming weeks, is that everyone who is yet to book their jab or be invited, will follow the example of the people who seized the moment yesterday (Tuesday), not just by getting their first jab but maximising their protection and making sure they get both doses.”

So far the NHS in England has delivered more than 58 million vaccine doses to over 75 per cent of adults.

On June 7, 279,678 doses were booked through the national booking service and June 1, 220,956 slots were taken up.