Covid booster jabs: NHS booking system sees people waiting in queue behind 2,500 others

People attempting to secure a Covid booster jab on the NHS booking system were today waiting in queues of more than 2,500 others online.

Queues appeared to be moving quite quickly with people having to wait for around 5 minutes to reach the front.

It came as the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation approved vaccines for all adults, three months after they have had their second dose following the discovery of the new Omicron Covid variant in South Africa.

The jabs will be offered in order of ascending age groups and the Government and NHS have not yet revealed when people under the age of 40 can book their booster jab.

Deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said that the NHS would contact people as they became eligible.

A spokesman for NHS Digital which manages the online booking service told i: “There’s a queuing system in place to mange bookings when lots of people are trying to book an appointment.”

Scientists believe the new variant carries an increased risk of infection and may contain a degree of vaccine escape, sparking countries around the world to tighten travel restrictions.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said that initial studies show the current vaccines “may be less effective” against the Omicron variant.

It will take up to three weeks for scientists to establish how much the 32-mutation Omicron strain can evade jabs.

And it is thought ​the two vaccines used in the UK booster rollout – Pfizer and Moderna – will offer some protection against the new variant.

Just 28.5 per cent of the population have had their booster jab – largely because only certain groups are eligible to book the jab, including those aged 40 and over, NHS and care staff.

Today, the JCVI announced that booster jabs will be offered to all adults in the coming months with a further 25 million people set to become eligible.

Until today the booster has been offered to all over-40s, as well as frontline healthcare workers and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals.

People were initially told to wait six months after their second jab to receive their booster, though this is now being shortened to three months.

JCVI deputy chairman Professor Anthony Harnden said extending the age range for boosters and reducing the gap between second and third doses was “a sensible strategy”.

He told BBC Radio 4 that adults aged 18 to 39 should expect third jabs to be offered to them “earlier than we had previously envisaged”.