The NHS has upped its efforts to get everyone fully vaccinated following recommendations by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). In May the JCVI said the interval between first and second doses should be reduced from 12 weeks to eight for all those aged 50 and over and for the clinically vulnerable.
Those who have been contacted to bring forward their second vaccine appointments are being urged to book as soon as possible.
The NHS said: “We’ll be contacting some people in high-risk groups directly to offer earlier appointments for their 2nd dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Please wait to be contacted if you think you’re in this group.
“If you’ve been contacted and you’d like to rebook, you’ll need to cancel your existing appointment before we can offer you new appointments.”
To manage your vaccine appointments visit the NHS website HERE.
The move is aimed at combating the fast-spreading virus mutation first detected in India, now known as the Delta variant.
The strain has sparked concern as there has been a surge in cases across the UK.
The Delta variant has become the dominant mutation of the virus in the UK according to data from Public Health England.
Public Health England releases weekly statistics on the number of Covid cases in the UK, as of June 3 there were 12,431 cases of the delta variant recorded in the UK.
This is a worrying surge, as this figure shows a sharp rise in cases with just 6959 recorded cases a week earlier.
The variant is highly transmissible and the rise in cases has been attributed to the ease at which the variant can be passed on.
The Health Secretary, Matt Hancock told Sky News the delta variant was “around 40 percent more transmissible” than the Kent strain.
