London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Covid vaccine: Over-70s urged to get vaccine as UK nears target

Covid vaccine: Over-70s urged to get vaccine as UK nears target

People aged 70 or over who have not yet had a Covid jab are being urged to come forward, in a final push by ministers to meet their vaccination target.

More than 14 million people in the UK have had at least one dose - with the aim being 15 million by Monday.

Meanwhile, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said the UK could this year live with Covid "like we do with flu".

"I hope that Covid-19 will become a treatable disease by the end of the year," he told the Daily Telegraph.

Over the weekend, ministers are taking part in a renewed drive to encourage people in the top four priority groups - comprising people aged 70 and over, front-line health and social care workers, care home residents and the clinically extremely vulnerable - to get vaccinated.

The government is aiming to offer a vaccine to 15 million people in these priority groups by 15 February - which would cover 88% of those most at risk of dying from Covid-19.

On Friday, Wales said it was the first UK nation to meet the target.

Across the UK, a quarter of adults have already received one dose of a Covid vaccine, including around nine in 10 of all over 70s.


People aged 70 or over in England have already been asked to contact the NHS to arrange their jab. They can book an appointment online, or by calling 119 or contacting their local GP.

Health and social care workers should speak to their employer if they have not had their vaccine yet, the Department for Health said.

And GP teams have been asked to contact their clinically extremely vulnerable patients to make sure they have been offered a jab.


Almost 30 government ministers are taking part in visits and virtual meetings across the UK in a further push to encourage everyone eligible for the jab to get vaccinated.

They will hear from NHS staff and volunteers helping with the rollout, as well as people getting the vaccine.

Mr Hancock said: "I am determined that we protect as many of our country's most vulnerable people from this awful disease as soon as possible."

"Vaccines are the way out of this pandemic and it is testament to the strength of our Union and the combined power of our United Kingdom that we've seen such incredible progress in the roll out of our vaccination programme," he added.

Prof Stephen Powis, NHS medical director, said the UK's vaccination programme was "off to a strong start".

"People in the priority groups have not missed their chance to get jabbed and if you are aged 70 and over and haven't yet taken up the offer, please do come forward and make an appointment," he said.

The government has also published a new plan to help boost vaccine uptake in all communities, including those who may feel more hesitant about getting a jab.

The plan aims to raise awareness of how the NHS is making vaccination available to all, especially ethnic minorities, homeless people, asylum seekers and those with disabilities.

It highlights successful examples of community-led engagement which other areas could replicate, including a mobile vaccination service in Crawley to help reach those who are housebound and the use of social media resources to dispel vaccine myths in Slough.

From next week, details of who will be vaccinated in the next phase of the programme involving the over-50s and people with underlying health conditions will be set out. They are due to be vaccinated by May.

Some regions of the UK have already begun inviting the over-60s, who are part of the next phase, to be vaccinated.

On Friday, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the number of Covid cases is going down in all nations of the UK - although infection levels remain high.

On Friday, 15,144 new cases were recorded in the UK, as well as 758 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.

Meanwhile, a new hotel quarantine system is due to come into force in England and Scotland on Monday.

It means all British and Irish citizens and UK residents arriving in England from so-called "red-list" countries - including Portugal, Brazil and South Africa - will have to quarantine in a hotel at a cost of £1,750 for an individual.

In Scotland, residents arriving from any country by air will have to isolate in hotels.


Sir Simon Stevens: "This has been a very encouraging start, and obviously there is much more to do".


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
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
×