Care home vaccination rollout up to a week ahead of schedule
All care home residents and staff in England could be vaccinated by the start of next week under accelerated plans being discussed by ministers, The Telegraph understands.
Half of England's 400,000 care home residents have already had their first dose of the vaccine, and Boris Johnson said vaccinating the remainder was an "absolute priority".
With around 300,000 people being vaccinated each day, ministers believe the NHS could reach the rest of elderly care home residents a week ahead of schedule.
On Monday, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said some parts of the country have already vaccinated all care home residents.
The rollout of the vaccine is being ramped up again this week, with Mr Johnson announcing that more than four million people have now had the jab, including more than half of the over-80s.
The Government's official target remains to vaccinate, or offer the vaccine, to all care home residents and staff by the end of January, but a new internal goal of January 25 has now been set.
Mr Hancock told a Downing Street press conference: "There are some places, for instance Slough, that have vaccinated all of their care home residents.
"I want to thank all those who have been doing this enormous task, and in particular other places around the country who have reached the critical goal of making sure that everybody in a care home can be vaccinated... I'm absolutely determined to do all that I possibly can to support people in care homes."
As well as Slough, Newcastle upon Tyne announced it has also vaccinated all 2,000 of its care home residents in more than 50 homes, making it the first major city in the UK to do so. Newcastle's programme used seven teams of three people – a doctor, a nurse and an administrator – completing the job in less than a fortnight.
Speaking during a visit to the AstraZeneca vaccine manufacturing facility in Oxfordshire on Monday, Mr Johnson said: "The whole of the UK is going very well and the pace of the rollout is very encouraging."
He said of care home residents and staff: "Those groups remain a top priority, an absolute priority for us."
Ministers are increasingly optimistic that they will not only meet their targets for vaccinating each sector of the population but could also reach all of them ahead of schedule.
Another 10 regional vaccination hubs opened on Monday, added to the seven already open, with the over-70s now receiving letters inviting them to book a jab.
The Government has said it will offer vaccines to all over-70s by February 15 and is on course to meet that target or even beat it. The official target of inoculating the rest of the adult population by September could also be reached as soon as June, according to internal departmental estimates.
Mr Hancock said the rollout was now moving so quickly that some people are being vaccinated on the same day they receive the letter inviting them to book a jab.
Earlier, Mr Johnson tweeted: “Today marks a significant milestone as we offer vaccinations to millions more people who are most at risk from Covid-19. We have a long way to go and there will be challenges ahead – but together we are making huge progress in our fight against this virus."
