Age people can get Covid vaccine lowered for third time in a week
NHS England said that text messages will be sent out from today to 40 and 41-year-olds.
All people aged over 40 are now being invited to book their first Covid-19 jab.
NHS England said that text messages will be sent out from today to 40 and 41-year-olds allowing them to arrange their vaccination appointments.
It is the third time this week that the age threshold has been lowered on the national booking system, as the vaccine rollout continues at speed.
Those aged 42 and over were told they could book their appointments on Tuesday, following the over-44s who started receiving their invites on Monday.
Matt Hancock revealed earlier this week that a quarter of UK adults have now been fully vaccinated against the virus.
Figures also show an estimated 91.5% of people aged 45 and over in England had received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine by April 25, and just over four-in-five aged 70 and over had been given both doses.
In further updates that will bolster efforts, new Public Health England (PHE) research found this week that a single dose of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer jabs can cut transmission of Covid-19 in households by up to half.
As well as offering protection against symptomatic infections, the PHE data shows those vaccinated will be less likely to pass the virus on to people they live with.
The study, which has not yet been fully peer-reviewed, analysed 57,000 people living in 24,000 households who were the contacts of a vaccinated person. They were compared with nearly 1 million contacts of unvaccinated cases.
New analysis has shown that Covid-19 case rates have dropped below 50 cases per 100,000 people in more than 95% of local areas of the UK.
It is the first time since the start of September that as many as 19 in 20 areas have seen their rates plunge below such a symbolic level.
Around one in 10 areas are even recording rates in single figures.
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