NHS asks all over-70s in England to book Covid vaccine appointment

People aged 70 and over in England are being urged to arrange to have a Covid-19 vaccine if they have not already been inoculated, in a change of tactics by the NHS.

Until now the NHS has asked people not to contact them and to wait to be invited to come for their first dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech or Astra Zeneca/Oxford vaccine.

But now it is advising anyone aged 70 or over who has not yet had their first shot to get in touch to arrange to have it to help maximise the total number of people vaccinated. There are said to be 750,000 people in that age group in England who have yet to have a first vaccination.

The switch comes days before the 15 February deadline Boris Johnson set last month for the NHS to offer to vaccinate the 14 million people in the UK in the top four priority groups who are most at risk from Covid. They also include care home residents and staff, all health and social care staff and people judged to be “extremely clinically vulnerable” because they have poor underlying health or are undergoing cancer treatment, for example.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said the move would help save lives.

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“Thanks to the huge efforts of the NHS, volunteers and local authorities we have vaccinated an incredible 12 million vulnerable people so far, including around nine in 10 of all over-70s,” he said.

“We are on track to meet our goal of offering everyone in the top four priority groups a jab.

“So far we have said please wait until the NHS contacts you. I now urge everyone aged 70 and over who hasn’t yet had a vaccination to come forward and contact the NHS to book in their jab.”

He added: “And if you have grandparents, relatives and friends over 70, please encourage them to book an appointment as soon as possible, so they can be protected against this awful virus.

“Vaccines are the way out of this pandemic and, by ensuring you and your loved ones get booked in for a jab, the NHS can give those most at risk the protection they need as we continue to fight this disease together.”