April 30, 2021 10.26 am This story is over 35 months old

Everyone in their 40s now eligible for COVID-19 vaccination

Under 40s coming up soon
The COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues to pick up speed. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
By Local Democracy Reporter

People aged 40 and over are now being invited to book a COVID-19 vaccination as the NHS programme continues to expand.

People aged 44 and over were invited earlier in the week, followed by people aged 43 and 42, and now it is the turn of 40-year-olds.

Messages will be sent to 40 and 41-year-olds on Friday and over the weekend, allowing them to arrange an appointment through the NHS’ booking service.

People who cannot go online can call 119 to book their jab instead, and text invitations will appear as an alert from ‘NHSvaccine’, including a web link to the NHS website where you can reserve an appointment.

It comes after the news that 70% of Lincolnshire adults have now had at least their first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, with almost 600,000 taking place in the county altogether.

Also as part of the vaccine rollout in Lincolnshire, there will be another European day at the Princess Royal Sports Arena, Boston’s large vaccination centre, on Sunday, May 2.

This encourages people from Eastern European communities, as well as anyone else who may be eligible, to have a walk-in AstraZeneca vaccination.

Alison Tonge, the NHS England and NHS Improvement director responsible for overseeing the vaccination programme in the Midlands, said she was delighted with the momentum of the rollout.

She said: “Almost 5.5 million people in the Midlands have already come forward to receive at least one dose of the vaccine and we are delighted to invite everyone aged 40 and over to receive theirs, as the Midlands continues to lead the way in rolling out the largest vaccination programme in the history of our NHS.

“We know that the most effective protection comes from having both doses of the vaccine, with over 2.1million people across the Midlands having benefited from both doses – and I encourage anyone who has an appointment booked for their second jab over the coming weeks to attend as planned to make sure they are fully vaccinated.”