People queue for 'jingle jabs' on Christmas Day as fight against Covid continues

Queues have formed outside pharmacies as people wait to get their vaccination on Christmas Day as the fight against coronavirus continues.

People were seen waiting for their “jingle jabs” as the booster vaccination programme continued over the holidays in England.

NHS England has thanked healthcare staff who work or volunteer on Christmas Day.

In a tweet, the health services said: “From vaccinators to volunteers, porters to paramedics, midwives to psychologists and all other essential workers – thank you to everyone working during the holidays!”

Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged people to “make the booster jab part of their Christmas celebrations this year” as the figures showed the extent of the threat posed by the Omicron variant.

He also praised the employees for their work during the holidays.

“I want to thank the NHS and its volunteers for their tireless and selfless work in sacrificing time with their loved ones up until Boxing Day and Boxing Day this year to administer life-saving jabs and help everyone get a booster now,” said Mr Javid.

“More than 30 million booster doses have already been given across the UK, but we need to go further. We are committed to offering a booster to all eligible adults by the end of the year and it is so important that people do their part and come forward.”

Dr Emily Lawson, head of the NHS Covid vaccination programme, said it was “fantastic” to see people coming for their “jingle jabs” on Christmas Day.

“We saw so many records broken in the run up to Christmas and it was humbling to see first-hand the amazing work being done at vaccination sites that have done everything humanly possible to vaccinate people over the last year,” she said.

“So if you have time this Christmas or Boxing Day and you haven't had your booster yet, then do it and give your loved ones the best gift possible by protecting yourself. It's never too late to get that first, second or booster dose.”

By 9am on Christmas Eve, a further 122,186 laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 cases had been registered in the UK – another daily record – while 137 people had died within 28 days of testing positive.

On 20 December, there were 1,171 Covid-19 hospital admissions in the UK, up 30% from the previous week and the highest number since 19 February.

Figures released on December 23 showed that 32,290,487 booster and third dose vaccinations were administered, an increase of 605,561 from the previous day.

Vaccination clinics in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be closed on Christmas Day.

Russell George, the Conservative shadow health minister for Wales, said the decision not to offer vaccinations there on Boxing Day would cause “great confusion among families and businesses” as “we are in a race against Omicron”.

The threat posed by the omicron wave was underlined by a “sobering” estimate from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that 1.7 million people in the UK had contracted Covid-19 in the week ending 19 December, the highest number since comparable figures began in autumn 2020.

National statistician Sir Ian Diamond said while there was some evidence that people were behaving “more safely”, it was “far too early to assume that we will see anything other than a further increase in the coming weeks”.

But Jenny Harries, head of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said the data published on Thursday contained a “glimmer of Christmas hope”, suggesting that the Omicron strain may cause less severe disease than the Delta variant that has been dominant so far.

The UKHSA data has fuelled speculation in Westminster that Boris Johnson will resist imposing further restrictions in England after Christmas.

In Scotland, nightclubs will close for at least three weeks from December 27 as part of a package of measures to curb the spread of the virus, while clubs in Wales and Northern Ireland will close from Boxing Day.

In England, however, the government may choose to issue new voluntary contact restriction guidelines rather than risk another damaging Tories' revolt by summoning Parliament to enforce new rules.

The Prime Minister has indicated he will not hesitate to take action after Christmas if necessary, and Monday is likely to be the first opportunity for ministers to consider whether any changes are needed beyond the existing Plan B measures.

Asked whether the government would have the information it needed to make important decisions by then, Dr Harries told the BBC: “Ministers will look at all the data we have. It's not just about what the epidemiology says, but what the impact is on society.”

Your comments reflect concerns about the high levels of staff absence across the NHS and key public services as a result of the rapid spread of Omicron.

The Government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) panel has examined modelling calculations on the impact of new restrictions that could last up to three months.

Warwick University's model envisaged a return to Step 2 of the government's roadmap – including banning households from mixing indoors with the six-person rule outdoors – from either 28 December or 1 January and permanently until 15, 28 January or 28 March.

A document prepared by the Spi-MO modelling panel for Sage states: “Rapidly implemented Level 2 measures reduce peak pressures in hospitals to around half the levels achieved under Plan B alone.”

Minutes of a Sage meeting on 23 December state: “The earlier interventions are made and the more stringent they are, the more likely they are to be effective.”

The Warwick models have not been reviewed by ministers, who are waiting for further data before making decisions on whether and what additional steps might be necessary.