London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Covid vaccine offered to all care homes in England

Covid vaccine offered to all care homes in England

A Covid vaccine has been offered to residents at every eligible care home in England, the NHS has announced.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the achievement, expected to be confirmed by official figures on Monday, as a "crucial milestone".

A target of 15 February has been set for the UK to vaccinate care home residents and carers, people over 70 and frontline care workers.

On Saturday a record 598,389 first jabs were given across the UK.

It means nearly nine million people have received the first dose of a vaccine, with around 490,000 having received two jabs.

NHS England said more than 10,000 care homes with older residents had been offered vaccines, although a "small remainder" of homes had visits deferred by local public health directors for safety reasons during local outbreaks.

These will be visited by vaccinators as soon as NHS staff are allowed to do so, it said.

The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI) sets which groups are prioritised for vaccinations, with residents in care homes and their carers in the top group.

All those over 70 years old, clinically extremely vulnerable people and frontline health and social care workers make up the top four groups which the government has said should be inoculated by mid-February.

Mr Johnson said vaccines were the "route out of the pandemic" but warned there will be "difficult moments to come" with the number of cases and people in hospital still "dangerously high".

"Today marks a crucial milestone in our ongoing race to vaccinate the most vulnerable against this deadly disease," he said.

Dr Nikki Kanani, NHS England's primary care director, said: "It has been a privilege to vaccinate some of the most vulnerable people and the wonderful people who look after them. Many have had little contact with the outside world throughout the pandemic and so it has been truly humbling for all, giving them hope and importantly protection against the disease."

NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said the vaccination campaign was off to a "flying start" as a result of an "amazing partnership working between our GPs, community nurses and care homes".

Fiona Carragher, director of research and influencing at Alzheimer's Society, said it was "great" the milestone had been met but she remained concerned that the staff vaccination rollout "has not been nearly so effective".

"The most pressing question now is how and when can care homes restart safe, meaningful visits. Combined with PPE and testing, isn't one jab enough? If not, what else needs to be in place? Another 12-week wait is unacceptable for people dying of loneliness," she said.

Liz Kendall, shadow social care minister, said that after the "appalling loss of life in care homes" it was "very good news" that vaccines had been offered to all elderly care home residents.

"It is essential that ministers now do everything possible to ensure care home staff take up their vaccines, move swiftly to vaccinate care homes for people with disabilities and crucially, home care staff who care for elderly and disabled people in their own homes," she said.

The news was welcomed by the care sector with Vic Rayner, executive director of the National Care Forum, saying it was "an amazing outcome".

Care UK chief executive Andrew Knight said almost all the company's residents had been offered a jab and "the majority of our colleagues" had been vaccinated, while Nadra Ahmed, of the National Care Association, said the programme had been a "great achievement under extreme and challenging circumstances".

Deborah Alsina, chief executive of older people's charity Independent Age, said it was an "important moment" for people living in care homes who had been "badly impacted through this pandemic".

"But this must begin to give us all hope that there will finally be a significant decrease in the terrible death toll we have seen to date. "

Labour has called for teachers to be moved up the JCVI priority list and said February half-term should be used to vaccinate teaching staff.

The vaccinations committee has said early vaccination of certain professions should be considered - but only once those in the top nine priority groups have been offered a first jab.



A further 587 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test were reported on Sunday.

It takes the UK's total by that measure to 106,158, although the number of reported deaths tends to be lower over the weekend.

In other developments:

*  Captain Sir Tom Moore is in hospital with coronavirus after needing help with his breathing

*  Pupils in the UK could potentially lose an average of £40,000 each in lifetime earnings from the effects of school closures, according to a new report

*  "Exhausted" medical staff need time to recover before tackling an NHS backlog, a group representing hospitals in England has warned

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×