Young people not currently eligible for the Covid-19 booster jab have been receiving vaccinations from walk-in centres, clinics and pharmacies across the country that have chosen to ignore official government guidance.
On online forums, under-40s have been suggesting to each other the places offering boosters to all over-18s. On Reddit, nearly 25,000 people are a member of the UK community GetJabbed, where they are sharing locations of clinics in cities including London, Manchester and Liverpool offering boosters to younger people.
One poster linking to a vaccination clinic in Essex said they were offered the jab within five minutes of arriving, “no questions about age or living in the area”. Another reported getting a jab in Smethwick, near Birmingham, while other under-40s said they had been vaccinated yesterday in Woking, Basildon, Hounslow and Bristol.
Many say they want the booster to protect older relatives or because they expect to be away or busy when the rollout to younger people officially happens next year.
Despite the fact they were flouting official guidance, many walk-in clinics offering boosters to anyone over the age of 18 appeared to be keen to advertise that they have jabs available.
At Yorkshire Event Centre at Harrogate showground, 28-year-old Jessica Jones said her father heard on the local news that there were vaccines available for younger people.
Jones, who runs a set-building company for fashion shoots in Manchester, is one of a small percentage of under-40s without pre-existing conditions to have now had a booster. She said: “The main reason I’ve come here really is that my dad is quite old and that I still want to go places and do stuff – it’s the obvious choice. No one wants to get ill.”
Dr Cath Dixon, who runs the vaccine centre here and delivered Jones’s booster, said the aim is to vaccinate as many people as possible, regardless of age. She said: “Most of the older and vulnerable people are now up to date with their vaccines so we are seeing more younger people coming in.
“It’s been fantastic. People are so appreciative and some have come from quite far away,” she added.
The pop-up clinic delivered 1,444 vaccines on Friday with a team of six vaccinators and, by 3pm on Saturday, the team had already surpassed that. As of Saturday afternoon, they had done 6,613 jabs in five days, most of them boosters.
But NHS England has not officially rolled out vaccine boosters for under 40s, with a spokesperson saying NHS vaccination sites are expected to focus only on the most vulnerable “which at present is people aged 40 and over as well as those with health conditions and healthcare workers”.
From Monday, this will be extended to over-30s, the NHS said, advising anyone eligible to get the jab.
For Louie Swain, 27, who heard about getting a booster vaccine near his home in Harrogate from a friend, it is wanting to spend time with vulnerable family members over Christmas that brought him to the vaccination centre yesterday.
“I was trying to look it up but I didn’t know they were doing boosters for people my age. I thought it was quite important because have family members who are vulnerable and I want to spend time with them over Christmas, so that’s why I’m here.”
Booster shots are becoming increasingly vital in the fight against the new Omicron variant, which is predicted to become the dominant variant in the UK within days.
Early analysis by the UK Health Security Agency found a third dose of the vaccine prevents three quarters of people from getting any Covid symptoms.
Prof Neil Ferguson, who helped shape Britain’s coronavirus lockdown strategy, said the Omicron variant has the potential to “very substantially overwhelm the NHS” and cause up to 10,000 hospitalisations a day if it is as virulent as Delta.
The mathematical epidemiologist from Imperial College London said the UK was already experiencing a “very explosive wave of infection” from the new variant. This could lead to “quite an explosive wave of hospitalisations.”
In addition, leaked documents showed Sajid Javid, the health secretary, received a presentation from the UK Health and Security Agency on Tuesday warning that even if the Omicron variant leads to less serious disease than Delta, it risks overwhelming the NHS with 5,000 people admitted to hospital a day.
In Harrogate, Dr Dixon is especially keen to encourage those who have still not had a single vaccination yet to get the vaccine. This includes pregnant women, who are being advised to ensure they are vaccinated, in line with government guidance.
She said: “There are still people we need to reach. The message really is that Covid kills, it’s still killing but it’s mostly killing vulnerable people and those who haven’t had the vaccine.”
Source: Guardian
