Britons in their 30s set to receive Covid vaccine from second half of May

UK’s rollout will continue in five-year age bands

Britons in their thirties could begin getting the Covid-19 vaccine during the second half of May, according to new details published by government advisers.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has revealed the rollout will continue in five-year age bands after it was expanded to the under 50s.

In England, people aged 45 to 49 have been invited to book their coronavirus vaccine appointment, with all adults to be offered the jab in decreasing age order before the end of July.

Based on current vaccination rates, those aged 35 to 39 could start getting vaccinated before the end of May.

Around 12 million adults in the UK have received their first vaccine dose over the past six weeks, according to the latest government data. It puts the programme on course to move onto 30-somethings by the end of May.

Those in their 20s could be invited to get the jab from late June, with 18 to 24-year-olds contacted for the jab by the end of July at the latest.

Overall, more than 32 million people across the UK have been give the Covid jab and more than 8 million have received their second dose.

Health secretary Matt Hancock has said the programme remains on course to offer a first jab to all adults by the end of July. “It’s a remarkable achievement,” he told MPs earlier this week.

Those aged the age of 30 will be offered the Moderna or Pfizer jabs as an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to concerns about a possible link to blood clotting.

Other vaccines could have “some background level of clotting issues” but data over the risks is not yet clear enough, a leading expert said on Thursday.

Professor Sir John Bell, Oxford University’s Regius Professor of Medicine, told Sky News: “We don’t have clear enough data on what the risks of these strange clots actually are with the different vaccines, and that data is coming together at the moment.

“We know for sure there’s a small risk associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine but also with the JJ [Johnson & Johnson] vaccine. I suspect there will be risks associated with the other vaccines that use the spike antigen as the target.”