“In many other countries, police and law enforcement colleagues are being prioritised and I want my officers to get the vaccination,” the Metropolitan Police Commissioner said. Decisions on who gets the jab first are made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
The top two priority “cohorts” are people over 80, care home residents and staff, along with frontline health and care workers.
Succeeding “cohorts” are based mainly on age with people over 70 coming next.
That means Dame Cressida, who is 60, will get the vaccine before frontline officers, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who are at greater risk of infection.
Among other duties, officers have had to police several anti-lockdown protests in London, where demonstrators generally refuse to wear masks.
Speaking to LBC radio’s Nick Ferrari, she said: “In cohorts five to nine, you have people in my age group and I am baffled really.
“But obviously this is a decision the Government has made so far on the basis of the JCVI, who are experts.”
Previously, JCVI chairman Professor Wei Shen Lim has said: “As the single greatest risk of death from Covid-19 is older age, prioritisation is primarily based on age.
“It is estimated that vaccinating everyone in the priority groups would prevent 99 percent of deaths.”
Dame Cressida said a small minority are still breaking Covid laws and urged people to contact police if they are concerned about their neighbours’ behaviour.
She told LBC listeners: “The last thing I’m going to say on national radio is everyone should be shopping everybody. I don’t think that.
“What I do think is, if you do have concerns that somebody is persistently not complying with the restrictions, with the regulations, then, yeah, you should talk to us.”
Dame Cressida said the force is receiving “hundreds of calls a day” from concerned people, with fines handed out to those who are “completely reckless”, having house parties or keeping a restaurant, pub or cafe open.
Dame Cressida said there have been 97 incidents in the capital where someone has mentioned or threatened Covid before coughing at an officer, with 48 spitting attacks.
Some 126 people have been charged, with nearly two-thirds receiving a custodial sentence.
