Nearly 70,000 people across Huntingdonshire have received their third or booster coronavirus jab after the Government stepped up precautions following the rapid spread of the latest variant Omicron.

Health officials have started to increase booking capacity for the jabs and are planning to "significantly expand" available appointments in the coming days, including extending opening hours at existing sites where possible and re-opening vaccination sites operated by hospitals and GP hubs.

Figures to Monday show that nearly 350,000 people had been vaccinated so far, with 144,230 receiving the first dose, 134,139 the second and 69,635 the third or booster dose.

Dr Gary Howsam, chairman of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “A year into the Covid-19 vaccination programme and we have already delivered over 1.6 million doses of vaccine across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

"Our teams of vaccinators, support staff and volunteers have been outstanding, and I want to thank each and every one of them for their ongoing dedication and support."

Dr Howsam said: "It is now time for us to push again, to significantly increase local vaccination opportunities to get as many eligible people boosted as possible before the end of the year.

"Our teams are working incredibly hard to increase the number of vaccination appointments that local people can book, and I would encourage people who are eligible for their booster to visit the National Booking Service website to book their jab.”

The CCG said that boosters were only available locally on a pre-booked basis to ensure that as many eligible people as possible could get the jabs in a planned and managed way.

It said a number of vaccination centres in Huntingdonshire were offering the booster vaccination on an appointment-only basis, including the Oak Tree Centre in Huntingdon, along with several pharmacies in the district, such as Wards of Warboys and Boots in Huntingdon.

The CCG added: "Whilst we are not currently offering boosters on a walk-in basis, we still have a number of daily clinics open that offer first and second doses on a walk-in basis. You can find the detail on each of these clinics via www.thevaccinators.co.uk."

Bookings for the booster can be made at www.nhs.uk/covidvaccine or by calling 119.