Over 60’s in England can now be vaccinated against Covid-19

NHS England said GPs can now move onto vaccinating priority groups five and six if they have done all they can to reach groups one to four.

People aged 60 to 69 will now be invited for a Covid-19 vaccine in England if supplies allow and if GPs have done all they can to reach those at higher risk.

Some parts of England have already begun vaccinating the over-65s with their first dose after they reached everyone in the top four priority groups – including the over-70s and care home residents – who wanted a jab.

NHS England said regions could now move onto people aged 60-69 if every effort has been made to contact and vaccinate those in groups one to four, and if there are supplies.

In Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford said some over-50s there have already begun to be contacted and offered a vaccination after the top groups were reached.

Meanwhile, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said she expects many in the 65-69 age group to have had their first vaccine by the middle of this month.

And in Northern Ireland, people aged 65-69 have been able to book a Covid-19 vaccine at seven regional centres since the end of January.

However, some GPs have expressed frustration at being told they cannot move on to the next groups.

A GP in Kent, with the Twitter handle @yvettedoc50, suggested last night she had run out of people to vaccinate but had been stopped from moving on to other groups.

She said reasons for those in the top four groups not receiving their vaccine included “choice/transport issues/Covid symptoms etc”.

She added: “This shouldn’t be stopping us.”

The Guardian also reported that doctors at the Francis Crick Institute in London needed more groups to vaccinate.

It said they were providing first doses at a rate of 100 a day when they have capacity for 1,000.

It comes as the UK economy shrunk at its fastest rate since the 1920s last year, as the pandemic forced thousands of businesses to remain closed for several months. GDP dropped by 9.9%.

Elsewhere, the online booking portal for the hotel quarantine system went down shortly after it was launched on Thursday afternoon, and is not expected to be up and running again until around 10am on Friday.