LONDON: The UK's health service on Wednesday extended its COVID-19 age-based vaccination programme to the next cohort to cover everyone aged 30 and over.
The National Health Service (NHS) said 1 million more people aged 30 and 31 will be invited by text over the coming days, leaving only adults between 18 and 29 yet to get the nod to come forward for their first doses.
It is the latest in a series of expansions this month opening up the vaccinations to people in their thirties, who are to be offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs -- either Pfizer/BioNtech or Moderna -- following medical advice related to rare blood clot concerns for lower age groups.
"Our vaccination programme is moving at such a phenomenal pace and I am delighted that less than six months after Margaret Keenan received the first authorised jab in the world, we are now able to open the offer to everyone in their thirties and over," said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
"The vaccine is our way out of this pandemic and recent data has shown the life-saving protection a second dose of the jab can give, especially against the new variant (B1.617.2 variant first discovered in India)," he said.
On the advice of the government and Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), people aged 50 and over and the clinically vulnerable are having their second doses brought forward to counter the spread of the B1.617.2 variant.
The NHS said it has now delivered almost 32 million first doses of the jab, and well over 19 million of adults have had both doses.
"Getting the vaccine is the single most important step we can take to protect ourselves, our families and our communities against COVID-19 with the jabs saving thousands of lives already and today the biggest and most successful NHS COVID vaccination programme in history is rolling out to everyone in their thirties," said Dr Nikki Kanani, NHS National Medical Director for Primary Care.
"The offer of a vaccine doesn't expire so if you are eligible and haven't booked please do come forward when you're invited to," she said.
Anyone who is eligible for a jab is being urged by the NHS to take up the offer at one of the 1,600 locations across the UK.
People can click on the link in their offer text and use the NHS' COVID booking website to get a reservation.
The expansion of the programme comes as the government continues to monitor the rapid spread of the B1.617.2 variant of concern (VOC) in parts of the country.
However, following confusion over travel advice for some of the so-called hotspots of the VOC, the government updates its advice to call for minimising travel into and out of Bolton, Blackburn, Kirklees, Bedford, Burnley, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside.
Earlier advice had asked people to avoid non-essential travel altogether.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps admitted communication over the advice could have been "clearer".
"This is not a new lockdown, this is not law, this is just some advice. You can do exactly as you can elsewhere in the country. Some additional advice was provided in order to remind people that they happen to be living in areas where the risk of transmission is higher," Shapps told the BBC, after the government was accused of trying to introduce localised lockdowns by stealth.
Meanwhile, the UK reported 15 new coronavirus deaths and 2,493 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 but the cases per 100,000 remain high in some of the VOC hotspots of the country.