“I feel as if this is Boris trying to improve his popularity ratings at the expense of general practices” – Salford medical practice feels pressured by recent booster announcement

A booster vaccine is now available to every adult aged 18-years-old in England.

Prime minister Boris Johnson announced last night at 8pm every adult is illegible if they had their second jab at least two months ago.

This comes as cases of the new Omicron variant are rising in the UK.

Many nurses in the country feel as though this is putting yet more pressure on them to get people vaccinated.

Andrea Simpson is a practice manager at Silverdale medical practice in Swinton.

She said: “It’s not really fair giving us less than two weeks notice to get people vaccinated before Christmas.

“I feel as if this is Boris trying to improve his popularity ratings at the expense of general practices.”

People from Salford have also shared their views about the recent announcement which encourages everyone to get the booster.

One woman said: “I think the announcement should’ve been made a lot sooner.

“The over 18s should be able to get it as much as everyone else.”

Another man also showed his support for the recent announcement.

He commented: “If it means that people still have the freedom to keep doing what they want to do in day to day life I don’t really see the problem.”

Around 45.9 million people in England have already received two doses of the COVID vaccine.

The government have said they will offer booster jabs to all adults by the end of this year.

Everything You Need to Know by Katherine Dinsdale

But some people from Salford are still skeptical about getting the booster vaccination.

One person commented: “It’s still about, with or without the vaccine.

“People are still catching it so I don’t really see the point.”

Before the announcement, only adults over 30 were able to book a booster jab in England.

This has now been extended to over 18s after cases of omicron infections are doubling in the UK every two to three days.

Health security Sajid Javid has warned that the omicron variant is spreading faster than previous variants, with Boris Johnson today confirming that the first person in the UK has died from the variant.