Over 18s can now book Covid booster jab appointments online

15 December 2021, 00:02 | Updated: 7 June 2023, 08:56

All adults in England can now book a Covid-19 booster. Picture: Alamy

By Megan Hinton

Anyone aged 18 and older can book their Covid booster jab, as the health service ramps up its vaccination programme in the fight against the Omicron variant.

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People are eligible for a booster three months after their second vaccine but they can book after two months in a bid to offer every eligible adult a chance to third dose before the New Year.

Meanwhile, in a bid to speed up the time it takes to get doses in arms, the 15-minute post-vaccination wait will also be scrapped for anyone who gets Pfizer or Moderna.

People had usually been asked to stay behind after a jab to make sure they didn’t suffer a rare allergic reaction.

But that has been dropped after huge queues built up outside vaccine centres – demonstrating Britons’ determination to protect themselves from the Omicron variant, with more than half a million booster jabs given in the UK on Monday.

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Dr Emily Lawson, head of the NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme for the NHS in England, said: "The NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme, the biggest and most successful in health service history, is once again pulling out all the stops to protect the country from this cruel virus.

"Millions more people can book their booster from today and NHS staff are working flat out to set up more sites and put on extra appointments.

"This is by far the most complex but critical phase of the biggest and most successful vaccination drive and so with latest data showing that the booster is our best hope of protecting people against the new variant, it is vital people come forward as soon as possible by booking their slot online to guarantee that vital jab."

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: "We are turbocharging the vaccine rollout to ensure as many people as possible can get boosted now as we continue our fight against the Omicron variant.

"From today, every adult in England who had their second dose two months ago can pre-book an appointment for that vital top-up jab."

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It comes after Professor Wei Shen Lim, chairman of the Covid-19 panel of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said that it was important to give the booster before the Omicron wave comes.

He told the Science and Technology Committee of MPs on Tuesday: "You want to give the booster before the wave comes, there is less benefit in giving a booster in the middle of a wave or after a wave."

The Omicron Emergency Boost has been described by Boris Johnson as a "national mission unlike anything we have seen before in the vaccination programme".

Figures on Tuesday showed that 24 million boosters and third doses – with the latter referring to jabs for the immunocompromised – have been given out so far.

In total, more than 51 million first doses have been distributed, as have 46 million second jabs.