16 and 17 year olds urged to get lifesaving COVID jab as online bookings open

People aged 16 and 17 are now able to book their Covid-19 jabs through the National Booking Service as the NHS vaccination programme pulls out all the stops to protect people ahead of winter.

Almost three quarters of a million young people in England – around 60% – have already received their vaccine thanks to the NHS “Grab a Jab” campaign, where the NHS online site finder helps people find their nearest walk-in vaccine clinic.

The online booking service now offers an additional way for people aged 16 and 17 to get a single shot of Pfizer in line with JCVI advice.

Thousands of texts will be sent to eligible teenagers in the coming days.

Messages appear as an alert from ‘NHSvaccine’ and include a web link to the NHS website to make a booking.

It is the latest phase of the NHS Covid vaccination programme, the biggest and most successful in health service history.

NHS staff have already been vaccinating young people at hundreds of convenient sites including Reading and Leeds Festival, night clubs and Thorpe Park.

More than 78 million vaccinations have been delivered and nearly 9 in 10 adults have had their first dose since the NHS in England made history when Margaret Keenan received the first jab outside of a clinical trial in Coventry, in December 2020.

NHS staff and volunteers have also been vaccinating on university campuses at pop-up clinics and walk-in centres, urging students to get their jab or second dose during Freshers and get protected as the new academic year begins.

In line with guidance from the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), the NHS is vaccinating 16 and 17 year olds with a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

The NHS has also started to administer booster vaccines to eligible people. The JCVI, has advised that everyone aged 50 and over, as well as clinically vulnerable individuals and frontline health and social care workers, receives a top-up dose.

Vaccinations for children aged 12 to 15 has also started. Vaccines for this age-group are being delivered by local school age immunisation services (SAIS) who are working closely with schools to identify all eligible children.

Heath and social care workers can book an appointment via the NBS for their booster vaccine online, making it easier for them to protect themselves and their patients.