The NHS on Wednesday (June 16) started its registration process for around one million people aged 21 and 22 to get their coronavirus vaccine, as the national Covid vaccination programme entered the final phase of the first dose roll-out.
Some 972,000 texts will be sent out from today inviting the cohort to book in their jab via the National Booking System which will allow them to make appointments for both doses.
The NHS confirmed on Tuesday that by the end of this week it is expected that all those aged 18 or over would be able to get jabbed to protect themselves, their friends and their family.
Figures released this week show the NHS in England has now delivered over 60 million vaccinations, just six months after the programme launched when Margaret Keenan made history and became the first person in the world to be vaccinated with an approved vaccine.
Health secretary Matt Hancock said: “We’re almost at the final hurdle of offering lifesaving jabs to all UK adults, with both vaccines providing the fullest possible protection against symptoms, serious illness and hospitalisation from this awful virus and moving us a step closer to beating this pandemic.
“I urge everyone aged 21 and over to get your vaccines booked in as soon as possible to not only secure this extra defence for yourself, but to protect your loved ones too.”
It is only just over a week since the programme opened to all 25-29-year olds.
Over one million appointments were booked by people in their 20s in just one day last week showing the enthusiasm of younger adults to get vaccinated and protected from the virus.
“When invited, people will be able to book at one of the 1,600 Vaccination Centre, pharmacy or general practice sites across the country that are available through the national booking service. Vaccination centres are also available in convenient locations such as mosques, museums and rugby grounds,” the NHS has said.
Text invitations, which do not expire, appear as an alert from ‘NHS vaccine’ and include a web link to the NHS website to reserve an appointment.
