Hundreds of ‘Grab-a-jab’ vaccination sites that don’t need an appointment OR a GP registration open across England in drive to hit herd immunity threshold of 85% of population
- ‘Grab a jab’ sites to open in stadiums and shopping centres across the country
- Adults without an appointment will be eligible for a Covid vaccine this weekend
- NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens says UK’s jab programme in ‘race to the finish line’
- Nation saw 15,810 new Covid cases as of yesterday – up 50% on previous week
Hundreds of walk-in vaccination sites including stadiums and shopping centres will be open in England this weekend in a drive to have people jabbed as Covid-19 cases continue to rise.
NHS chief Sir Simon Stevens said the country was ‘in a race to the finish line’ as the potential of a summer of freedom looms
NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said the country was in a ‘race to the finish line’ in its vaccination programme as summer freedoms loom.
The ‘grab a jab’ campaign comes as the UK recorded a further 15,810 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases as of 9am on Friday – up 50 per cent on the 10,476 new cases reported a week earlier.
Any adult in England will be able to be vaccinated this weekend without an appointment at hundreds of walk-in Covid-19 vaccination sites including football stadiums, theatres, supermarket car parks and shopping centres.
The NHS will publicise the sites locally so people can choose the best location for them, or they can type in their postcode at nhs.uk/grab-a-jab to find their nearest sites.
Among the sports grounds involved are the Newcastle Eagles basketball arena, Watford’s Vicarage Road, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Birmingham’s Edgbaston cricket ground.
Any adult in England will be able to be vaccinated this weekend without an appointment at hundreds of walk-in Covid-19 vaccination sites including football stadiums, theatres, supermarket car parks and shopping centres. Pictured: Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium
The NHS will publicise the sites locally so people can choose the best location for them, or they can type in their postcode at nhs.uk/grab-a-jab to find their nearest sites
The ‘grab a jab’ campaign comes as the UK recorded a further 15,810 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases as of 9am on Friday – up 50 per cent on the 10,476 new cases reported a week earlier
Buses offering jabs will also operate in Dudley, Colchester, Ipswich and elsewhere, while community vaccinators will visit the housebound.
Sir Simon said: ‘With more than 63 million jabs already delivered by the NHS in England, we’re now in a race to the finish line, and with this new online service, it is easier than ever to find a convenient place to get your vaccine.
‘With every jab give, we are one step closer to our summer freedoms.’
Some 75,963,777 jabs have been given in the UK up to June 24, of which 43,877,861 were first doses.
The Government has set a target of July 19 for offering a first dose to all adults – the date when the final stage of lockdown easing is scheduled to go ahead.
Looking ahead to the date, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt told The Times: ‘I think it’s hard to describe the lifting of restrictions, after the year we’ve been through, as anything other than a joyous moment of celebration.’
Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi and London Mayor Sadiq Khan joined a London vaccine summit on Friday in a bid to boost jab uptake in the capital, which lags behind the rest of England.
The Department of Health said another 15,810 cases had been recorded across the UK in the past 24 hours, which was up 50.9 per cent on the number last Friday
There were also another 18 deaths registered yesterday, an increase of 63 per cent compared to a week ago. The average number of people dying each day with the disease has been nudged up to 16 this week after stagnating for more than a month
Data shows that an estimated 83.1% of over-50s in London had received both doses of vaccine by June 20.
But all other regions across the country are above 90%, according to the figures published by NHS England.
Analysis by the PA news agency shows that the top 19 local authority areas in England with the lowest proportion of fully vaccinated adults aged 50 and over are all in London.
Mr Khan warned the reopening next month could be at risk unless enough people are vaccinated.
He said: ‘Unless sufficient numbers of Londoners have the jab it makes it more likely that we won’t be able to fully reopen on July 19.
‘I’m determined to have not only as many Londoners fully protected but for us to reopen on July 19.’
Meanwhile, calls are mounting for full audiences to be allowed back at live events after a pilot scheme exploring the impact of large-scale events on Covid-19 transmission found ‘no substantial outbreaks’.
The Events Research Programme (ERP), commissioned by the Prime Minister in February, saw 58,000 participants attend indoor and outdoor venues across the country, and the delayed report revealed 28 associated positive cases of Covid-19.
Industry leaders said the results should pave the way for a ‘full reopening’ of the entertainment industry next month.
A total of 64,089,251 Covid-19 vaccinations had taken place in England between December 8 and June 25, according to NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 310,890 on the previous day.
NHS England said 36,944,843 were first doses, a rise of 177,515 on the previous day, while 27,144,408 were a second dose, an increase of 133,375.
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