When will over-40s get the Covid vaccine?
Prince William discusses vaccine rollout with Armed Forces
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The coronavirus vaccine has been hailed as the best way to return life to a “new normal”. More than 16.4 million people have received the first dose of the Covid vaccine and the UK Government is aiming to vaccinate up to 17 million more people by mid-April. But when exactly will over-40s get the coronavirus vaccine?
The Government’s vaccination programme has seen 16,423,082 people vaccinated up to and including February 17.
A further 573,724 have received a second dose of the Covid vaccine.
On February 17, 482,110 received the first dose of the vaccine and 15,147 people received the second dose of the vaccine.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to donate a majority of the UK’s surplus vaccine supply to poorer countries in a speech to a virtual G7 meeting.
Mr Johnson urged rich countries to back a new 100-day target for the development of new vaccines for future emerging diseases.
The UK met its first target of undertaking 15 million vaccinations by mid-February covering those in the top four priority groups.
The JCVI has outlined the priority list as follows:
- Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
- All those aged 80 years of age and over. Front line health and social care workers
- All those aged 75 years of age and over
- All those aged 70 years of age and over. Clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
- All those aged 65 years of age and over
- All those individuals aged 16 years of age to 64 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
- All those 60 years of age and over
- All those 55 years of age and over
- All those 50 years of age and over.
- The rest of the population.
The Government is now aiming to vaccinate the remaining priority groups, which includes 17 million more people, by mid-April.
According to recent reports, the most vulnerable and all those aged 50 and over are likely to have been given the first dose of the vaccine by the end of March.
Since February 13, when the 15m target was hit, more than 16m people have now received their first dose.
This means almost one in four people in the UK had been given their first dose of the vaccine, while in most EU countries it is around one in 20.
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People over the age of 40 could be given the Covid-19 vaccine as early as next month according to reports.
Age will likely be a dominant factor in deciding the next phase of the rollout, according to Government advisers.
The next step will see 40 to 49-year-olds invited for a jab once the people in the top nine groups get their first dose, according to the Daily Mail.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, head of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said age “dominates by a long way” in deciding the next phase of the rollout.
Whitehall sources have denied claims the UK will invite over-40s for a jab in less than five weeks.
A health official told the Mirror: “This is total speculation. We have set out what we are aiming to achieve and what we think is deliverable – which is the remaining phase one groups by May.”
More detail about the future of the vaccination plan and lockdown easing is due to be announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday.
He is using the latest coronavirus data, including vaccine reports to analyse the impact on transmission, serious illness and deaths, in order to determine the speed by which restrictions can be lifted.
The UK could be back to normal by May with new data on the effectiveness of vaccines “looking promising”, a senior scientific adviser has said.
Imperial College London Professor Neil Ferguson was asked if the world could return to normal by May.
He told the BBC: “It still may well be that…we’re in a very different country than we are today.”
Professor Ferguson added lockdown rules will likely remain in place, but he believes “society will be a lot more normal”.
A top scientific adviser said vaccines are “doing the job” when it comes to cutting the number of people infected with Covid across the UK.
Professor Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol and a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said “everything’s moving in the right direction” when it comes to the impact of vaccines on the pandemic.
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