The NHS-run Covid testing locations will be closing at 6pm, after officials claimed that not enough people were coming forward to take swabs.
The £37billion Test and Trace scheme has instructed all of its local and regional facilities in England to scale back their opening hours and shut early.
The new health agency that is responsible for the program claimed that the decision was made because the nighttime demand for tests had decreased significantly.
But MPs Evening tests were convenient for working Britons, but a SAGE expert doubted the timing of the move. The cases are high as we head into winter.
For people with confirmed symptoms or close relatives, most NHS drive-in and walk-in sites were open from 8am-8pm every day.
The scale-down comes after a Commons inquiry found Test and Trace had been an ‘eyewatering’ waste of public cash that failed in all of its main objectives.
After officials claimed that not enough people were turning up for swabs in evening, the NHS-run Covid testing locations will be closing at 6pm today
The UK Health Security Agency, now responsible for the scheme, stated in a statement that they had been informed of the decision by all Service Management Providers to change future operating hours at Regional or Local test sites in England from 8am to 6pm starting Nov 1, as the demand for tests drops significantly.
It said: “We have built flexibility in our services so we can adapt quickly to changing circumstances during a pandemic. We will continue to do that.”
Clark, who is also chairman for the Commons science-technology committee, stated that it was right to cut back on the exorbitant program.
He told The Telegraph that testing should be available to all who want it, even after work is done.
“Tests should be available when people require them, not just for the convenience of offering them.
Professor John Edmunds, a member the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies also agreed that the enormously costly’ scheme should be reduced.
He said to the newspaper: “But, we currently have record-high levels of prevalence, so it might not the best time to begin to limit the availability for tests.”
Across the UK, there are 40,000 new Covid infections every day — double the amount this time last year heading into winter.
This move is believed to be in direct response to last week’s findings by the public accounts committee.
It stated that the scheme was a waste because it Failure to break the chains of Covid transmission, prevent lockdowns, or allow people to return to a normal way of living.
The Public Accounts Committee stated that the programme, which was previously run by Baroness Harding, former TalkTalk boss, also had’muddled objectives.
Its £37billion budget — equal to nearly a fifth of the entire health service’s budget — was used to hire more than 2,000 consultants on daily rates of £1,000 per day, on average.
The former Health Secretary Matt Hancock championed this programme, while Boris Johnson, Prime Minster, famously described it to be ‘world-beating.
In an effort to speed up the slow rollout of top-up doses prior to winter, Covid booster jabs are now available at walk-in clinics.
Last night, NHS chiefs announced that eligible patients will now be able turn up for their injections instead of booking an appointment.
All over-50s are eligible for a booster six months after their second shot, but they had to wait for a referral from their GP before they could arrange an appointment.
However, boosters will be available at hundreds of walk in sites across the country starting today without the need for a reservation.
Individuals are encouraged to use the NHS online walking-in finder to locate their nearest centre.
NHS England stated that nearly everyone lives within ten minutes of a fixed vaccination station.
Officials believe the move will dramatically improve the slow take up of booster jabs and prevent further lockdown restrictions.
The latest data shows that almost six million eligible adults are still waiting for their third dose in England.
This weekend Boris Johnson warned that those who have been double-jabbed should not be ‘over-confident about their level of immunity’.
The Prime Minister warned they risk becoming ‘seriously ill’ if they do not get their booster jab and that ‘people don’t quite realise the first two jabs start to wane’.