Over-18s offered Covid jab in Lancashire amid concerns over Indian variant
All adults will be offered a Covid vaccine in parts of Lancashire where there’s been a spike in cases of the Indian variant.
It comes after the Prime Minister said he was “anxious” about the Indian variant and is “ruling nothing out” to tackle it.
There are growing concerns over the variant, first identified in India, which appears to be spreading more quickly than other variants.
Officials have said there is currently insufficient evidence to indicate it causes more severe disease or makes the current vaccines less effective.
However the government has struck a deal with pharma company CureVac to develop vaccines against future variants and has pre-ordered 50m doses.
Blackburn and Darwen council have today said they have secured extra doses of the vaccine to be made available to anyone aged over 18 from next week.
Number 10 has not ruled out rolling out surge vaccinations more widely, with a spokesman saying ministers “want to consider all options”.
Speaking during a visit to a primary school earlier today, Boris Johnson said: “There are a range of things that we could do. We want to make sure we grip it.”
“Obviously there’s surge testing, surge tracing, making sure that whenever you have a case, you check everybody who’s been in contact with that person.”
“But if we do have to do other things, then of course, I think the public would want us at this stage to rule nothing out.”
The UK recorded 11 coronavirus-related deaths today and 2,657 infections recorded in the last 24 hours.