MORE than 10,000 people in St Helens have received a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine in one week, new figures reveal.

The booster jab rollout has been scaled up amid concern over the spread of the Omicron variant in the UK, with daily Covid-19 cases reaching record numbers.

It comes as coronavirus cases in St Helens soar, with figures showing by 303 cases in the last 24 hours. Public health chiefs have confirmed more than 100 cases of Omicron have been idenitified in the borough.

Data from the UK coronavirus dashboard shows at least 12,264 people in St Helens received a booster or third vaccine dose in the week ending Monday, December 20 – the latest available data.

That was up from 8,950 the previous week– a rise of 37 per cent.

Of the latest seven days, Thursday, December 16 saw the most extra jabs in arms (2,099) – the highest number since the NHS booster jab campaign was launched in mid-September.

A total of 81,554 people in St Helens had received a booster or third dose by Monday – at least 49 per cent of people aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

The rollout is believed to have gathered even greater speed this week with some GP clinics offering appointments and walk-in jabs being offered at Allied Pharmacies in Bold.

Today, the mass vaccination centre at Saints started offering walk-in boosters on the ground floor, while its appointments programme continues upstairs.

The 81,554 people in St Helens were among the 29.9 million people across the UK to have received an extra vaccine dose as of December 20 – up from 24.1 million a week earlier.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday (December 21) that there is not enough evidence to justify tougher coronavirus restrictions before Christmas but added that further measures post-December 25 could not be ruled out.

In a video message, the Prime Minister said: "There is no doubt that Omicron continues to surge with a speed unlike anything we’ve seen before.

"The situation remains extremely difficult, but I also recognise that people have been waiting to hear whether their Christmas plans are going to be affected.

"What I can say tonight is that naturally we can’t rule out any further measures after Christmas – and we’re going to keep a constant eye on the data, and we’ll do whatever it takes to protect public health."

He went on to encourage people to “drop everything” if they have yet to get a vaccine.

Mr Johnson’s comments came after Chancellor Rishi Sunak offered a £1 billion support package to hospitality and leisure businesses hit by Covid restrictions amid concerns over the high transmission of Omicron.

The additional help includes one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises for businesses in the affected sectors in England, which the Treasury expects will be administered by local authorities and to be available in the coming weeks.