UK lowers vaccination age for 2nd time this week

LONDON

For the second time this week, the UK lowered the age limit for people to get vaccinated, with the drive now opening up to those aged 42 and over, the government said on Tuesday.

On Monday, vaccinations were made available to those aged 44 and over.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock, 42, tweeted: “We are now inviting anyone aged 42 or over and those who will turn 42 before 1st July 2021 to book a COVID-19 vaccination. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our national effort. When you get the call, get the jab.”

In a video he posted on Twitter, along with his tweet, he said: “I'm really looking forward to getting my text. Yesterday we opened up to people aged 44 -- that's gone very, very well, thank you to the hundreds of thousands who've come forward and booked your appointment, and now we're able to go that little bit further. This vaccination rollout is going incredibly well. The uptake is astonishingly high.”

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reported that Brits with Covid vaccine passports could travel to the US, France, Italy, Germany, and Greece by June 28.

The British daily said UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will hold talks with his counterparts at the G7 summit that will take place in Cornwall, southwest England, on June 11-13.

He aims to convince them of the need for agreed international standards for vaccinated travelers, as well as creating travel corridors.

Government data released on Tuesday showed that across the UK over the past 24 hours there were 2,685 more positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to over 4.4 million. There were also a further 17 deaths, raising the tally to 127,451.

As of April 26, over 33.8 million first doses and more than 13.2 million second doses of the vaccine have been administered.