Boris Johnson warns UK of coronavirus 'third wave'

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The UK Government are close to sealing the deal with Pfizer as data shows more than half of the UK’s total population has received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Government data up to April 23 shows that of the 45,580,400 jabs given in the UK so far, 33,508,590 were first doses.

Express.co.uk understands the UK Government are close to agreeing a second order of 40 million doses on top of 40 million already distributed as more of the younger population will be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca jab due to fears of blood clots.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are set to announce early next month whether the AstraZeneca jab should be given to the over 30s category, despite the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) saying the vaccine is safe. 

A UK Government source told this website that a deal for more doses of the Pfizer jab “was on the home stretch” but urged caution on the deal announcement stressing it could be more like “a few weeks rather than days.”

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi and leading health chiefs are also putting together plans for a booster plan to give over 10 million 70s a third dose of the jab ahead of Winter.

It comes as the NHS is expected to start to invite people in their late 30s for the vaccine by the start of next month. 

The NHS vaccine programme, the biggest in health service history and the most rapid rollout in Europe, is continuing to ramp up second doses for the most vulnerable.

The programme has now protected about 28 million people in England with at least one jab, also delivering more than nine million second doses.

Although the NHS focus is on second doses, appointments are still available for those in the initial priority groups who have not yet been protected.

People who had their first jab at a vaccination centre or pharmacy-led service should already have a date for their second while those jabbed by a GP will be called back.

Anyone aged 45 and over can still arrange their jab, as well as people who are clinically vulnerable or a health and care worker, who should contact their GP for an appointment.

The NHS is also inviting those eligible for a jab by letter and text, with some GPs also calling unvaccinated patients personally to encourage uptake.

Doctors, nurses and other health care workers are administering injections at more than 1,600 sites, from cathedrals, mosques and temples to racecourses, stadiums, cinemas and museums.

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More than 20 of those sites have begun offering the Moderna jab over the last week.

NHS England data up to April 23 shows that of the 38,189,536 total doses given in England so far, 28,102,852 were first doses – a rise of 107,656 on the previous day.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “This vaccination programme is our way out of this pandemic. It’s clearly saving lives.”

It comes as a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) claimed children have been frustratingly “left behind” in the COVID-19 vaccine programme.

Professor Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol, said the focus for trials has been on adults due to children not being seriously affected by the virus.

But he said he wants to “get on” and do the necessary trials in children.

While children are unlikely to fall ill with COVID-19, they do play a role in transmitting the virus.

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