Britons can now read one book at a time on the NHS website, proving that it is able handle demand for boosters.
The system has creaked under huge demand from hundreds of thousands of people trying to book a third jab since Boris Johnson’s TV appeal on Sunday night.
The trouble peaked on Monday when many Britons could not even get into the queueing system – and, when they did, they were kicked out halfway through.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, problems were reduced when people waited in a line for around five minutes to be offered an appointment.
However, this morning’s queue was empty. This was one day after the system had been opened to everyone and three days after people aged over 30 were allowed to book.
Nathan Brown of Southampton, who posted shortly after 7:15 AM that he was finally able book a jab. It took only 13 days to book, but it was finally done!
Another user on Twitter said that she had booked her Covid booster ticket and Spiderman tickets. A third person added, “Finally managed a booster appointment.”
The website had an “important” warning notice to customers, which stated: “This service is facing extreme high demand at the moment and is running a queueing system. You can book later, or try again tomorrow if you cannot make the booking now.
Today, there wasn’t a queue on the NHS booking site for booking booster vaccines. People were able to just click through without any waiting.
Although the website stated that it was in ‘extremely high demand, people can click through
Yesterday, people waited in line at the Science Museum’s Covid-19 vaccine centre.
Yesterday, soldiers from the Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers gave Melanie Hughes (Cheroke) her Covid booster in a Chester Cathedral vaccination center.
A record 656,711 booster and third doses of Covid-19 vaccine were reported in the UK on Tuesday – beating the previous record which was 550,253 doses on Saturday.
The UK has received 24.7million booster doses and 3.4million third doses in just seven days, according to data from health agencies.
It comes as the head of the NHS insisted the booster programme only aimed to ‘offer’ the jabs to all by the end of the year, not administer them.
While the total daily doses are breaking records, the numbers are still well short of the one million per day needed to jab everyone by New Year’s Day.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister said: ‘Everyone eligible aged 18 and over in England will have the chance to get their booster before the New Year.’
But speaking at a Commons Public Accounts Committee hearing yesterday, Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of NHS England, said: ‘The Prime Minister has given us a new national mission to offer a vaccine to all eligible adults by the end of the year in response to this new Omicron threat.
‘So what that means is a credible offer. It is likely that they won’t be accepting everyone’s offer because some of them have just had Covid.
‘Or indeed, because they may, for other reasons, not be able to take up a date.
‘But the ambition for us is to make sure that anybody who wants, who is eligible, is able to book their booster by the end of the year.’
She also pointed out that boosters were delivered 71% more on Tuesday than they had been the week before.
‘The NHS is absolutely dependent on the support of not just the public, but our brilliant volunteers and the whole national effort to be able to do this,’ she added.
On Tuesday, more than 630,000 booster shots were booked via the online booking portal – which is the largest number of Tuesdays ever.
Daily virus cases rose to an unprecedented 78,610, with 165 deaths, yesterday. Business leaders, Tory MPs, and others are asking for help for travel and hospitality firms, whose bookings have collapsed.
Commenting on the booster record Dr Emily Lawson, director of the NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme, said: ‘NHS staff are once again pulling out all the stops to accelerate the NHS covid-19 vaccination programme, the biggest and most successful in health service history, and these figures show just how hard we are all working to get lifesaving jabs in arms.’
This comes just as Chris Whitty calls for limits on socializing last night, despite Johnson’s insistence that festive plans shouldn’t be cancelled due to Omicron.
As a result of divisions between No 10 and scientists, the chief medical officers gave a rather negative assessment on the Covid variant. They warned about a large increase in cases.
He cautioned against reports that Omicron was a milder strain, said a ‘substantial’ rise in hospitalisations was ‘nailed on’ and warned the NHS could face serious staff shortages as doctors and nurses fell ill.
Professor Whitty issued a clear message on Christmas socialising, suggesting people should ‘prioritise’ and not meet friends if they hoped to see their families. He added: ‘Don’t mix with people you don’t have to.’
Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, during an interview at Downing Street yesterday
But, speaking at a tense press conference in Downing Street, the Prime Minister struck a markedly more upbeat tone, hailing record booster jab figures as evidence of a ‘great national fightback’ against Omicron.
Third dose rates were double those in the EU, he said, adding: ‘Let’s keep going. Let’s carry on giving Omicron both barrels. Let’s slow its spread and give the vaccines more time.’
He urged care when seeing loved ones and friends – including taking a test before meeting anyone vulnerable – but insisted there was no need to limit Christmas activities.
‘We are not cancelling events or closing hospitality,’ he said. ‘We are not cancelling people’s parties or their ability to mix. Think carefully about the type of event you want to host.
‘Are you likely to meet people who are vulnerable? Get a test, make sure there is ventilation, wear a mask on transport.’
Downing Street maintained that Johnson would not hesitate in imposing further restrictions if needed, even after being rocked by 100 Tory MPs on Tuesday night over Plan B measures such Covid passports.
No 10 stated that MPs leaving for Christmas tomorrow will be summoned to legislate new restrictions if required. Downing Street is hopeful that the country will be able to get through Christmas without needing further restrictive measures.
But Dr Jenny Harries, head of the UK Health Security Agency, told MPs that Omicron was ‘probably the most significant threat’ since the start of the pandemic – and warned that case numbers were likely to hit ‘staggering’ levels.
Professor Graham Medley, one of the Government’s leading modelling experts, said there was a ‘very real possibility’ the NHS would be overwhelmed next month.
Dr Nikki Kanani, director of primary care for the NHS, urged football fans not to attend stadiums this weekend unless it’s to ‘get a jab’ at a pop-up site.