AT LAST! MINISTER ACTS ON BOOSTER JAB CHAOS EXCLUSIVE

Sajid Javid forced to speed up rollout amid shambles and Whitehall rows

MINISTERS are ripping up the booking system for Covid booster jabs amid growing fears the faltering vaccination programme risks triggering a winter spike – and another dreaded lockdown.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has ordered NHS chiefs to allow over-50s to book their third jab a month earlier than at present in a bid to turbocharge the sluggish rollout of boosters to combat Covid.

People are eligible for the booster six months after their second jab. But as it stands, patients cannot even start the booking process until that date, and

then must wait an average of 18 days to get their appointment.

The delay is believed to be a key reason why only around 4.5million out of the 9.3million eligible people in England have so far received the third dose.

The new plan, which Government sources say will be put into effect as soon as possible, will allow people to book in advance so they can get it as soon as the first day they are eligible.

Downing Street advisers have also examined whether the sixmonth period should be shortened, but concluded the period is still the ‘sweet spot’ which maximises the boost to immunity levels.

The development comes amid signs of growing tensions in Whitehall over the slow takeup of boosters and jabs for 12to 15-year-olds which has coincided with a sharp rise in infections and hospitalisations.

One source claimed Boris Johnson had ‘taken his eye off the ball’ because No10’s energies had been consumed by preparations for the forthcoming COP26 climate conference in Glasgow.

An analysis by The Mail on Sunday found if the current rate of vaccinations for those aged 12 to 15 is not accelerated, then barely one-third of the age group will have received a jab by the start of December.

The slow progress has led to calls for Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi to write directly to pupils to urge them to have the vaccine. But the move is opposed by other Cabinet Ministers who believe it is wrong to bypass parents. In other developments: A total of 44,985 new coronavirus infections were recorded yesterday, a rise of 15.2 per cent on last week’s figure, with deaths up by 12 per cent weekon-week to 135 and hospital admissions up 19 per cent;

Officials discussed the introduction of ‘lockdown lite’ if cases continue to rise, which would involve more working from home and mask wearing, but stop short of another shutdown of the economy;

Former Health Minister David Mellor compares antivaxxers to ‘someone running along a street stabbing passersby at random’ in an article in today’s Mail on Sunday

Government sources admitted it had been a ‘mistake’ to replace Mr Zahawi as Vaccines Minister with low-profile Maggie Throup;

The boss of Pimlico Plumbers likened the impact on children of parents working from home to idling on the dole, saying: ‘You’ve got to break the cycle otherwise it’s like when parents are on benefits and capable of going to work, and the kids say, “I’ll do that too”;

Union bosses were accused of scaremongering after warning No10 it risks another ‘winter of chaos’ unless it imposes its Covid Plan B, which would see more draconian measures imposed to combat the virus.

MPs say they have been bombarded with complaints from constituents about the glacial pace of the booster jab rollout.

The booster jabs are intended to deal with waning immunity among groups which first received the vaccines at the start of the year – but the number administered each day has been a fraction of the rate during the initial programme.

The jabs will not be rolled out to the under-50s until a greater proportion of the older age group have been jabbed, which at the current rate is expected to be in early 2022.

Mr Johnson responded to the criticism this weekend by asking Emily Lawson, the head of the No 10 Delivery Unit, to return to her old job running England’s vaccine programme.

The effort has also been stymied by Mr Zahawi’s move to Education Secretary, Sir Simon Stevens’ departure as head of

Only 4.5m have so far received a third dose

Another lockdown ‘is not on the cards at all’

the NHS and Matt Hancock’s resignation as Health Secretary over his breach of social distancing rules with an aide.

Mr Javid has warned the number of new cases could peak at 100,000 a day this winter, prompting fears of another lockdown – although Mr Johnson insisted that was ‘not on the cards at all’. Chancellor Rishi Sunak also said that the country could not return to ‘significant economic restrictions’.

Professor Peter Openshaw, a Government scientific adviser, said yesterday that he was ‘very fearful’ there will be another ‘lockdown Christmas’. However, modelling by experts on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies indicated it was ‘highly unlikely’ the NHS would be overwhelmed by the virus, as a combination of vaccine-acquired and natural immunity means fewer people would need hospital treatment than in the early weeks of the pandemic last year.