MORE than 20,000 people in Warrington received a booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine in the past week, latest 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.

Latest available data from the UK coronavirus dashboard shows at least 20,765 people in Warrington received a booster dose in the week ending Monday, December 20.

That was up from 13,328 in the previous week– a rise of 56 per cent.

Of the latest seven days, Friday, December 17, saw the most extra jabs in arms at 3,853, which was the highest number since the NHS booster jab campaign was launched in mid-September.

A total of 100,952 people in Warrington had received a booster or third dose by Monday – at least 51 per cent of people aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

They were among the 29.9million people across the UK to have received an extra vaccine dose as of December 20 – up from 24.1million a week earlier.

It comes after a leading figure for Warrington Borough Council called for efforts to be doubled to ensure the town can hit the target of offering all adults a booster Covid vaccine by New Year.

The booster vaccine target was described as a ‘Dunkirk moment’ by the council’s chief executive Steven Broomhead.

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Lucy Gardner, executive vaccine lead at Warrington Hospital, also urged all eligible residents to get vaccinated.

She said: “It is really important that everyone gets the vaccine, not just to protect themselves, but also to protect family and friends,” she said.

“Scientists are very worried about the arrival of Omicron variant, because of the speed with which it spreads and because two vaccine doses do not give us the protection we all need.

“Thankfully, a booster jab can restore protection to around 75 per cent, so the NHS is turbo-charging the booster programme to offer a top up to all eligible adults by the end of the year.”