London, Europe Brief News – Britain will begin rolling out its fourth coronavirus vaccine shot this week, the National Health Service (NHS) announced.
Millions of the country’s most vulnerable people have already received jabs.
The latest booster shot will be made available to care home residents, people aged over 75 and the immunosuppressed.
“Our phenomenal vaccination programme has saved countless lives and built defence wall which allowed us to live with Covid.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said:
“Following the massive rollout success, we are now offering over-75s a spring booster dose to top up their protection.”
Around five million people will receive the jab, and 600,000 will book their appointments next week, according to the NHS.
England Ends Covid Restrictions
Britain Prime Minister Boris Johnson has earlier unveiled plans to end self-isolation rules and the provision of free coronavirus tests in England.
Johnson outlined England ‘s roadmap to ending all legal restrictions and start “living with Covid.”
The other three nations of the United Kingdom, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, have the devolved authority to implement their own rules.
While the PM hailed the end of restrictions, he made clear that the pandemic is not over.
“Covid will not suddenly disappear,” Johnson said, so the government will continue to monitor for new, more dangerous variants. It will also keep certain infrastructure in place to identify any mutations of the virus.
“Today is not the day we can declare victory over Covid, because this virus is not going away. But it is the day when all the efforts of the last two years finally enabled us to protect ourselves while restoring our liberties in full,” Johnson said later on Monday, adding that the day marked a “moment of pride for our nation and a source of hope for all that we can achieve in the years to come.”