London is to get the first 24-7 vaccination centres in the country, it was announced today.

In a pilot scheme to be launched this month at hospitals in the capital, jabs will be given 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

NHS staff who work shifts are expected to be the main users of the service, while elderly and vulnerable people will continue to be offered daytime appointments at centres springing up across the city.

"We are going to pilot the 24-hour vaccination … in hospitals in London and we will look at how we expand that," said Vaccinations Minister Nadhim Zahawi.

In more key developments in what Mr Zahawi called a “race against death” to deploy vaccines :

  • London’s over-70s may have to wait longer for their Covid-19 jab because of the capital’s slow start to the vaccinations rollout, it was revealed today. Although the Government announced that jabs will be offered to nearly five million over 70s and clinically “extremely vulnerable” people from this week, Mr Zahawi clarified this will only begin in areas where “the majority of the over-80s” have been successfully vaccinated. That appeared to exclude London, where only 29.5 per cent of over-80s had been treated last week, when regional data was issued.
  • A major new vaccination centre near Wembley Stadium that could deliver 4,000 jabs a day opened today, one of 25 new sites due to launch in the capital this week to speed up the rollout. London’s most senior doctor, Vin Diwakar, of NHS London, urged people to come forward “without delay” for the jab when called.
  • A plea to London’s black, Asian and minority ethnic communities to ignore “dangerous misinformation about vaccines” was issued by Mayor Sadiq Khan. Mr Zahawi also begged BAME people not to miss out, saying that if 15 per cent refuse the jab then infections could “quickly spread” in a community.
  • The first data from Israel’s mass rollout of the vaccine suggests deaths are coming down and that the UK will see rapid benefits. Some 20 per cent of Israeli over-60s have been given the jab and the cohort has already seen fewer illnesses and deaths.
  • Annual jabs are “likely” to be needed against coronavirus, said Prof Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS in England. "Other strains of the virus will emerge - that's what happens with viruses, they mutate,” he said.
  • London firm Pimlico Plumbers' was slapped down for saying it would insist its employees are vaccinated. Mr Zahawi told the Today programme: "I think that is discriminatory. We're not that sort of country and I think it's important we do it by persuasion.

Mr Zahawi said the results from Israel gave hope that UK deaths and illnesses will be down enough in February to allow lockdown restrictions to be “gradually lifted”.

"So, two weeks after mid-February, we should be seeing a marked reduction in death and of course serious illness,” he told ITV. "We begin to gradually reopen and schools will be a priority.”

On the threat to BAME families, Mr Khan said during a visit to the Wembley centre: “Whilst thousands of Londoners have now had the vaccine, I am aware that there is a lot of dangerous misinformation about vaccines and that there are concerns among some people from BAME backgrounds about getting the vaccine.

“My message to those Londoners who are hesitant about getting a vaccine, is that this vaccine is safe. It has been thoroughly tested to meet the very highest standards, it works and will save lives.”

Newcastle proudly announced it has vaccinated all eligible care home residents and most of their staff.

New data tonight is expected to show how London’s rollout has fared since the disappointing figures issued last week, which showed the capital lagging behind most other regions.

Asked on Sky News to confirm that letters to the over-70s will only go out today in places that have already vaccinated over half of their over-80s, Mr Zahawi said: “Correct. Absolutely right.” London was at just 29.5 per cent of its over-80s in data last week.

NHS London said last week’s figures for London were already out of date and new data was due tonight.

More than 3.8 million people in the UK - including over-80s, care home residents, and NHS and social care staff - have already received their first dose.

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