15,000 Covid jabs to be given out at Twickenham stadium TODAY in Bank Holiday Monday drive

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A rugby-themed mass Covid vaccination set in the stadium home of the sport will jab as many as 15,000 people today.

The 82,000 seat Twickenham Stadium will host the huge walk-in operation from 10am to 8pm tonight.

It is hoped the push will give locals their first dose of the vaccine without delay of having to book or wait.

The initiative comes as the spread of the Indian variant of coronavirus threatens plans to reopen the country on June 21. 

Latest figures for England showed there were a further 3,240 positive tests yesterday and 22,474 over the past seven days, which represents a 26.8 % rise on the previous week.

The Twickenham jabbing day was dreamt up by  a partnership of the local NHS and Hounslow Council with support from England RFU.

It is situated by Hounslow, which is currently under surge testing due to increased variant cases. 

Pippa Nightingale, chief nurse in north-west London said: ‘We know we are finally due some lovely weather on Monday.

‘But if you are eligible and you haven’t had your vaccine yet, we encourage you to take some time out of your day and come and see us.’ 

It comes as it was reported that the race to double jab millions of over-50s by June 21 is likely to be won. 

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi yesterday set a deadline for the first time amid increasing concern over the Indian variant, which is highly transmissible and causing a third surge of the virus ahead of ‘unlockdown’. 

Around 5 million people aged over 50 are currently waiting for their second dose, with the NHS needing to vaccinate 225,000 of them every day to meet the target.

But second jabs were handed out at a rate of 400,000 a day most days last week, meaning it would take something catastrophic to knock the drive off course. 

Ministers hope that by hitting the target, they won’t have to extend restrictions – such as the use of face masks – beyond the ‘unlockdown date’, which Boris Johnson has set for three weeks’ time.

Asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show whether the vaccine rollout was enough to ensure that all restrictions are lifted on that date, Mr Zahawi said: ‘We are in a race between vaccinating at scale and making sure people get their two doses.

‘We saw very good data from Public Health England around the protection from two doses, either of Pfizer or of AstraZeneca. 

‘We hope to be able to protect with two doses – all ‘one to nine’ [first phase priority groups], all the over-50s – before June 21. We will make sure we vaccinate at scale.

‘But – and here’s the important thing – we will share the evidence with the country on June 14 to basically explain exactly where we are on infection rates, hospitalisations and of course, sadly, of death.’

To meet the deadline, many people have already been told they will receive second jabs earlier than expected – eight weeks rather than 12 after their first dose.

Over-50s are the priority for ‘double-jabbing’ because older people are much more likely to be hospitalised or die.

Only 3 per cent of those infected with the Indian variant had been double jabbed, according to official statistics, meaning scientists are confident it gives great protection against the strain.

Soldiers with the Royal Horse Artillery yesterday helped volunteers hand out Covid tests door-to-door in Bolton, where the Indian variant is prominent.

It emerged at the weekend that the NHS has now jabbed more than half of people in their 30s, and there are hopes that those in their 20s will be invited soon.

The Department of Health said the new deadline announced by the vaccines minister was a target rather than a commitment.

‘We have to be cautious,’ said Mr Zahawi. ‘Are we still vaccinating at scale? Big tick. Are the vaccines working? Yes. But are infection rates too high for us to then not be able to proceed because there are too many going into hospital?

‘I don’t know the answer, but we will know it, hopefully, on the 14th, a few more weeks of steady as she goes and we’ll get there.’ All legal limits on social contact are due to be lifted in England on June 21, a step Mr Johnson has described as ‘irreversible’ once taken. 

But ministers are now in a race with the new strain, with almost half of all new cases thought to be the Indian variant.

Last week the Prime Minister admitted his June 21 plans now hang in the balance. He said he ‘didn’t see anything currently in the data’ to derail the reopening, but added that ‘we may need to wait’.

Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, yesterday described the date as ‘too early’.

She told Sky News: ‘The 21st of June is very soon and I think to avoid more preventable deaths… we really need to be cautious at the current time.’

Dr Mike Tildesley, from the University of Warwick and a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Modelling (Spi-M) government advisory panel, said ‘an awful lot of uncertainty’ surrounded the plans.

Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, said hospitals are already under ‘worrying’ pressure and bosses were concerned about the transmissibility of the Indian variant and the large number of people who have still to receive doses of the vaccine.