Thread by @Telegraph

🛑The booster jab rollout is at a standstill despite No 10 pledge to put it ‘on steroids’.

The number of 3rd jabs administered in England was lower last weekend than the one previous, when the PM called for the programme to be accelerated.

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telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/…

💉On Monday night, there were accusations that the programme was “stuck in first gear” and fears that further restrictions could be introduced over Christmas unless the programme is accelerated

🦠Sajid Javid raised fears omicron may spread more quickly than its predecessors, saying it could “knock us off our road to recovery”.

telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/…

❌On Monday, Boris Johnson refused to rule out further restrictions, saying: “We’re still waiting to see exactly how dangerous it is, what sort of effect it has in terms of deaths and hospitalisations”

📈NHS statistics showed the weekly figure for booster jabs in UK has risen slightly (2.56M to 2.64M) they are some way off the government target, which pledged to deliver 3.5 million jabs a week

➡️ Sajid Javid insisted that the booster programme was “steaming ahead at a blistering pace”, restating government commitments to offer boosters to all eligible over-18s by the end of January.

Next week, the Government will review whether new Covid restrictions continue

The rollout has been plagued by a lack of vaccinators and volunteer marshals ready to help administer jabs. In Peterborough, 1,000 people were turned away.

🗣️Pharmacist, Shabbir Damani, said it had been “heartbreaking” to turn people away, but added there was no alternative

➡️A senior government source on Monday night stressed that ministers expected the booster rollout to speed up over the coming days and weeks, with “everyone in the NHS working hard to get as many people jabbed as quickly as we can”

Read the full report⬇️
telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/…