All over-50s to have both Covid vaccines by 21 June lockdown easing, government hopes

Ministers want all over 50s to have received a second coronavirus jab before a further easing of lockdown restrictions on 21 June.

The move comes amid growing fears over the new, highly transmissible strain of the disease first identified in India.

The government is coming under increasing pressure from experts to consider a delay to its 21 June deadline.

Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, today described the date as “too early” and warned it could lead to deaths that were otherwise preventable.

Ministers announced on May 14 that the gap between vaccines would be slashed from 12 weeks to just eight for the over 50s and the clinically vulnerable, as fears over the impact of the Indian strain grew.

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi has now said that the government “hope to get two doses… (delivered to) all over 50s before the 21st of June”.

All legal limits on social contact are due to be lifted in England on 21 June, a step Boris Johnson has described as “irreversible” once taken .

But ministers are now engaged in a race with the new strain, with almost half of all new cases thought to be the Indian variant.

One bright spot on the horizon is that data suggests that two vaccinations are effective against the new strain.

Public Health England statistics show the majority of those who have been infected have not been vaccinated.

Last week the prime minister himself appeared to admit his 21 June plans now hang in the balance. While he said he “didn’t see anything currently in the data” to derail the June reopening, he added “but we may need to wait.”