A Worcester GP has said the expansion of the Covid booster programme is a 'huge step towards saving Christmas'.

The UK Government announced on Monday (November 15) that those aged over 40 would be invited to receive booster jabs in coming weeks.

Second doses for 16 and 17-year-olds have also been approved after the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said the group should be offered a second jab of the Pfizer/BioNTech jab 12 weeks after they received the first.

The JCVI said that the broadening of the booster campaign and the offer of a second jab to 16 and 17-year-olds will "help extend our protection into 2022".

Dr Jason Seewoodhary, a city centre GP, said: "The UK government has announced that all over-40s will now be offered a booster dose of a Covid vaccine following advice from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

"This will be given six months after the second dose. People aged 40-49 will be boosted with either the Pfizer-BioNTech jab or a half dose of the Moderna vaccine.

"Three doses of vaccine, inclusive of the booster, lowers the risk of infection by more than 93%. The JCVI also said 16- and 17-year-olds, initially offered only a single dose, should now receive a second dose.

"The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said the booster doses were safe and side-effects were mostly limited to either a painful arm or flu-like symptoms, which are self-limiting.

"Expanding the booster program to both the over 40s and 16-17 year olds will limit the spread of Covid-19 infection over winter and will also significantly reduce the risk of hospitalisation and death.

"It will be a huge step forwards towards saving Christmas further limiting the unpredictability of Covid-19 infection."

Any fresh Christmas lockdown and Covid "storm clouds" forming in Europe can only be avoided by those eligible getting their booster vaccinations, the country has been warned.

Significant numbers of unvaccinated people across Europe are dying from coronavirus, England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said at a Downing Street briefing on Monday.

And he said if the number of deaths was replicated in the UK, winter restrictions may need a rethink.

Boris Johnson said while the data did not show, at the moment, that any additional measures were needed, he could not rule out a lockdown over Christmas if case rates rose.

Mr Johnson said: "It would be an utter tragedy if, after everything we have been through, people who had done the right thing by getting double vaccinated ended up becoming seriously ill or even losing their lives because they allowed their immunity to wane.

"We don’t yet know the extent to which this new wave will sweep up on our shores but history shows that we cannot afford to be complacent.

"Those countries with lower vaccination rates have tended to see bigger surges in infection and in turn been forced to respond with harsher measures, while those countries with higher vaccination rates have so far fared better.

"It shows us that if we want to control the epidemic here in the UK and if we want to avoid restrictions on our daily lives we must all get vaccinated as soon as we are eligible."

A total of 50,582,504 first doses of Covid-19 vaccine had been delivered in the UK by November 14, Government figures show. This is a rise of 22,938 on the previous day.

Some 46,027,909 second doses have been delivered, an increase of 17,048.

A combined total of 12,860,751 booster and third doses have also been given, a day-on-day rise of 217,349.