Newmarket: Long queues for vaccine booster jab on bus

There were waits of up to 90 minutes for a Covid-19 jab on the booster bus, serving Newmarket and surrounding villages in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire

There were long queues in a town as people turned up to get a coronavirus booster jab without an appointment.

A vaccination bus run by the NHS saw hundreds of eligible people in Newmarket, Suffolk on Tuesday.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has warned if not enough people take up the booster jabs then restrictions may need to be reintroduced over winter.

Lisa Nobes, NHS chief nurse for Suffolk and North East Essex, said: "We know immunity wanes and has waned."

People could get a jab without an appointment, including their booster if they were eligible

Public health officials have said while two vaccine doses give people high levels of protection, immunity reduces over time, particularly for at-risk groups.

The added concern was that even small dips in vulnerable people's immunity will affect the NHS's ability to cope this winter.

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The bus was offering first, second and third jabs, and the wait time was up to 90 minutes at its busiest.

Lisa Nobes, chief nurse for Suffolk and North East Essex, said people should get vaccinated if they were not already and take up the booster if offered

But Ms Nobes said getting vaccinated and getting a booster, if you are eligible, was "the best way to project yourself from getting seriously ill".

"We know that most of the people who are seriously ill [with Covid] are unvaccinated," she said.

"It also protects you from long Covid which is a really debilitating illness."

The bus and other walk-in clinics for vaccinations and booster jabs will be available across Suffolk and North Essex through November and December.

Who can get the booster?

People aged 50 or over are eligible for the booster jab

People are eligible for a booster jab in the UK if:

• They are aged 50 or over

• They are over 16 and have a health condition that places them at high risk

• They are a front-line heath or social care worker

It must also have been six months (182 days) since their second dose.