60-year-olds in Lancashire begin receiving jab in next phase of rollout

Invites arriving this week will mean everyone in the first seven priority groups will have been offered a jab, with people aged between 50 and 60 set to be the next categories of people invited.

And residents in Lancashire and South Cumbria aged between 60 and 64 are among the next cohort of people being encouraged to get their first dose of the vaccine.

The news comes as 72,479 of 65-69-year-olds in the Lancashire and South Cumbria vicinity had accepted their first jab as of February 21, an estimated 82 per cent of the population of that age in the area.

Lancashire and South Cumbria Covid-19 Vaccination Director, Jane Scattergood said: “The NHS vaccination programme, the biggest in the health service’s history and fastest in Europe, goes from strength to strength.

“I would like to thank my colleagues across the NHS, along with all the volunteers and others working on the programme, for their hard work which has seen more than half a million vaccinations given across Lancashire and South Cumbria in a matter of weeks.

“I would urge anyone who has been invited to take up the offer – it doesn’t matter when you were invited you can still come forward and protect yourself and others."

The NHS is set to invite a further two million people aged between 60 and 63 to book their Covid-19 vaccine this week as the programme gains momentum.

The latest invites come after the NHS already announced they had written out to 450,000 people age 64, along with 600,000 who have recently been asked to shield last week.

Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: "Since around four-fifths of 65-69-year-olds have now been vaccinated, we're rapidly working our way down the generations, with people aged 60 plus now able to come forward.

“As expected vaccine supply increases in March, we're planning for further acceleration as we head towards Easter."

Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi said: “Our incredible vaccination programme is accelerating, and well over 1 in 3 people across the UK have now received their first jab.

“We are now inviting those aged 60 to 63 to receive their vaccines and I urge everybody to come forward as quickly as possible to protect yourself and others from this terrible virus.

“Thank you to everyone on the frontline, including NHS vaccinators, GPs, pharmacists, and volunteers, whose unrivalled dedication to protect the most vulnerable should be applauded.”

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