Sheffield people in their 40s could get Covid jab in March: What we know about vaccination schedule
With the vaccine rollout surpassing 15 million, and on target for its first nine categories, people as young as 40 could be invited for a jab in March.
The head of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has stated age is ‘likely’ to decide who will be next to receive the vaccine – with some ‘key workers’ having to wait until after.
Professor Wei Shen Lim said at an online event: "Age dominates by a long way, and almost all the underlying health conditions contribute some increased risk, but not a huge amount of increased risk."
The Daily Mail reported that the age brackets in the next categories could be wider than before – meaning 40 to 49-year-olds could be invited to have their first jab once the 32 million people in the top nine groups have had theirs.
Currently over 17.5 million people in the country have had their first vaccination, meaning the target of 32 million could be hit by the end of March.
This would then mean those in their 40’s could be invited to have their first vaccination – a lot earlier than first anticipated.
The Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said that all over 50’s should be offered the vaccine by the end of April.
He said: “We are now aiming to offer a vaccine to everybody in categories one to nine – that’s those that are most vulnerable, and the over 50’s, and health and social care workers, and to do that by April 15 – and all adults should be offered a jab by the end of July.”