THOUSANDS of people in Redditch have received a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine in the past week, new figures reveal.

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

But while Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ruled out bringing in new restrictions in England before Christmas, tougher rules could be in force by the New Year in a bid to protect the NHS.

Data from the UK coronavirus dashboard shows at least 8,810 people in Redditch received a booster or third vaccine dose in the week ending Monday, December 20 – the latest available data.

That was more than double the 4,088 extra jabs given the previous week.

Of the latest seven days, Friday, December 17 saw the most extra jabs in arms (1,641) – the highest number since the NHS booster jab campaign was launched in mid-September.

A total of 36,887 people in Redditch had received a booster or third dose by Monday – at least 47% of people aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

They 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.

Mr 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.