Over-75s will receive 'the fourth Covid jab in weeks' as isolation rules end in DAYS

Over-75s will receive a fourth Covid jab within weeks as ministers prepare to relax self-isolation rules.

Other vulnerable Britons with immunosuppressive conditions will also be offered a booster vaccination.

Six months have passed since many received their third shot last fall.

Sources said The times future vaccination programs will work like annual flu shots, targeting the elderly and vulnerable.

This is only expected to increase if a dangerous new variant emerges.

The government will also maintain a number of monitoring systems to monitor Covid-19 and emergency measures will be taken quickly if necessary.

These include the increasing number of tests and rapidly developing vaccines.

It comes before Boris Johnson announces a bonfire of Covid rules tomorrow.

The Prime Minister will say that anyone who tests positive for the virus will not legally have to isolate. It is reported that the new rule could come into effect from Thursday.

He will withdraw all pandemic regulations restricting public freedoms in England as part of his Living With Covid plan.

Ministers said future variants are expected to be similar to Omicron in terms of being milder than early mutations.

Mr Johnson said ahead of his announcement: “Covid will not suddenly disappear, and we must learn to live with this virus and continue to protect ourselves without restricting our freedoms.

'We have built strong protection against this virus over the past two years through the rollout of vaccines, testing, new treatments and the best scientific understanding of what this virus can do.

“Thanks to our successful vaccination program and the huge number of people who have come forward to get their jab, we are now in a position to set out our plan for living with Covid this week.”

Local authorities will need to manage outbreaks with pre-existing public health powers, just as they would for other diseases.

Downing Street said pharmaceutical interventions “will remain our first line of defence”, with the vaccine program “remaining open to anyone who has not yet come forward”.

But No 10 appeared to keep the door open for state-funded infection samples to remain in place.

Officials said Monday's plan will maintain “resiliency against future variants with continued surveillance capabilities.”

It comes after senior statistician Sir David Spiegelhalter argued that some form of the Office for National Statistics' coronavirus survey should remain in place.