Suffolk: Nearly three-quarters of over-40s given boosters

Booster jobs are being rolled out to over 40s and then to all adults by the end of January

Health officials have said nearly three-quarters of eligible people over 40 have had their booster jabs in Suffolk.

The county's clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) also said those remaining should be vaccinated by the New Year.

A meeting of council and health leaders heard Suffolk is in the top five areas of the country for booster jab rollout.

Dr Ed Garratt, from the CCGs, said he was "very confident" about giving boosters to all over-18s.

The Local Outbreak Engagement Board meeting on Friday heard 74% of the eligible population had received their third vaccination.

More than 271,000 patients had received their booster, while there were 95,000 eligible who are yet to receive the jab.

Public Health Suffolk also reported that half of 12-15 year-olds have had a dose of the vaccine, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Dr Garrett, chief executive of Ipswich and East Suffolk, West Suffolk and North East Essex CCGs, said: "We have been asked to scale up the programme all across the country from now until the end of January and we are absolutely committed to delivering on that."

The government said all adults in England would be offered boosters by the end of January in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

A mass vaccination event for up to 10,000 people will take place at Newmarket Racecourse on Sunday but people must have an appointment.

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