A RECORD number of people received an extra dose of the coronavirus vaccine in Maldon after a new booster jab target was announced by the Prime Minister.

On Sunday, Boris Johnson said every eligible adult in England is to be offered a top-up injection by the end of December, a month earlier than planned.

More than 1,210 people in the district received a booster or third dose on Tuesday – Maldon's highest daily figure since the NHS campaign was launched in mid-September.

That was almost four times the previous day's figure of 315 boosters, and more than double the same day last week when there were 527.

It means 31,451 people in Maldon had received a booster or third dose by December 14 – 52 pet cent of people aged 12 and over.

Speaking at a Downing Street press conference last night, Mr Johnson said it is “absolutely vital” everyone gets a booster jab to tackle the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

He warned that in some areas the doubling rate was now under two days.

England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said "records will be broken a lot" over the coming weeks.

“What we’ve got is two epidemics on top of one another – an existing Delta epidemic, roughly flat, and a very rapidly growing Omicron epidemic on top of it,” he said.

NHS staff are working flat out to set up more sites and put on extra appointments - Dr Emily Lawson

The NHS national booking system opened up to all over-18s in England yesterday as the health service ramped up its vaccination programme.

Booster jabs are available for people who had their second dose at least three months ago, and adults can now book their top-up dose after just two months.

Third primary doses are already offered to people with severely weakened immune systems.

Dr Emily Lawson, head of the NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme in England, said: “The NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme is once again pulling out all the stops to protect the country from this cruel virus.

“NHS staff are working flat out to set up more sites and put on extra appointments.

“This is by far the most complex but critical phase of the biggest and most successful vaccination drive and so with latest data showing that the booster is our best hope of protecting people against the new variant, it is vital people come forward as soon as possible.”