Premier League footballers could get their Covid vaccines early under plans being considered by ministers, it was claimed today.
People in their 40s are set to be invited for their first dose from tomorrow, after the NHS finished booking appointments for those in higher priority cohorts.
And footballers alongside hauliers, diplomats and other groups who are exempt from strict quarantine rules could be bumped up the queue, reports The Times.
No10’s scientific advisers are investigating whether vaccinating people most likely to travel could cut the risk of importing variants. The newspaper claims the plans are at an ‘early stage of discussion’.
More than 32million Brits have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine, with the drive currently focus on administering millions of top-up jabs.
Supplies of Moderna’s Covid vaccine are due to be made widely available this week, while Johnson and Johnson’s jab is expected to be approved by medical regulators within days.
Number 10’s goal was to offer a first dose of a vaccine to all 32million people in the top nine priority groups by April 15.
Government sources say ministers are now ‘easing into’ the next phase, with adults in their late forties set to be invited in the coming days.
Paul Jinadu, 79, is given his second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, at Copes Pharmacy and Travel Clinic in Streatham, south London, April 9, 2021
Government sources told the Times that everyone in the priority groups had been contacted two weeks ago, with recent days devoted to encouraging the hesitant to come forward.
Efforts are continuing to ensure maximum take-up in a group that accounted for 99 per cent of Covid-19 deaths and about 85 per cent of hospital admissions.
However, a period of national mourning for the Duke of Edinburgh means that Boris Johnson will not be able to trumpet the achievement at a press conference as originally planned.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is due to issue its final advice on the second phase of the programme early this week.
Draft guidance issued in February said that phase 10 of the roll-out would be people aged 40-49, followed by those aged 30-39 and then those aged 18-29.
Last month, SAGE concluded that border controls would slow but not prevent importation of new variants from places where they are more common.
It comes as Mr Johnson yesterday urged the nation to ‘behave responsibly’ when pub gardens reopen and restaurants resume outdoor dining in a major easing of England’s coronavirus lockdown.
Shops deemed non-essential will also reopen today, as will hairdressers, indoor gyms, swimming pools, nail salons and zoos in another stride back towards normality.
However, social mixing indoors will remain heavily restricted, with around two in five adults yet to receive their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine and the vast majority yet to get both.
The Prime Minister urged caution during the ‘major step forward’ as a scientist advising the Government warned the rules must be followed to minimise a possible rebound in case numbers.
‘I’m sure it will be a huge relief for those business owners who have been closed for so long, and for everyone else it’s a chance to get back to doing some of the things we love and have missed,’ Mr Johnson said.
‘I urge everyone to continue to behave responsibly and remember ‘hands, face, space and fresh air’ to suppress Covid as we push on with our vaccination programme.’
The fanfare for the easing of restrictions has been muted by the national mourning for the Duke of Edinburgh.
Mr Johnson postponed his celebratory pint and Government communications have been pared back to essential messages after Prince Philip’s death on Friday at the age of 99.
Meanwhile, Wales will also enjoy renewed freedoms from Monday, with non-essential retail reopening and border restrictions eased to permit travel again with the rest of the UK and Ireland.
Remaining school pupils will return to face-to-face teaching in Wales and Northern Ireland, in moves being echoed in Scotland as pupils return from their Easter breaks.
The ‘stay at home’ order in Northern Ireland will also end as the number of people permitted to meet outdoors rises from six to 10.
Professor Peter Horby, chairman of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), told Times Radio: ‘The watchword has got to be caution really.
‘It’s not clear exactly when or how big it will be, but there is, I think, inevitably going to be a bit of a rebound in the number of cases when things are relaxed.’
The Oxford University academic said the vaccination programme will minimise hospital admissions and deaths but warned it will not be completely effective.
‘Now the extent of it really depends on how well we comply with the ongoing restrictions so we really have to take this step by step,’ he added.
BEFORE: More than 50 per cent of England’s population are in areas where virtually no new Covid cases at all. Pictured: The rolling seven-day average cases on February 23
AFTER: Some 4,307 areas – with a total population of 34.5 million – have had so few Covid cases that Public Health England has not published their data for a month to protect the identities of the few people with positive tests. The neighbourhoods – including parts of Devon and Cornwall – could have had two new cases but likely had none in the week up to April 4. Pictured: The rolling seven-day average cases on April 4
The next step in Boris Johnson’s lockdown exit roadmap will see pubs, bars and restaurants allowed to welcome back customers outside but only if there is table seating
Non-essential retailers can reopen tomorrow, with salon owners claiming there has been an ‘explosion’ in bookings from people looking to get haircuts or have their nails done
An exclusive Mail on Sunday poll has found the use of the vaccine passport documents was backed by 63 per cent of respondents, with 25 per cent opposed