The NHS in the North West delivered a record number of Covid-19 vaccinations on Saturday, marking the end of a bumper week as the region races to protect as many people as possible before Christmas.

NHS staff and volunteers pulled out all the stops to vaccinate record numbers of people with 101,310 on Saturday, and 200 arms being jabbed per minute at the busiest time. It’s the first time since the vaccination programme started that the number of vaccines in one day has exceeded 100,000 in the region.

A total of 188,000 vaccinations were delivered over the weekend which has contributed to the region hitting the milestone of three million booster vaccinations.

Over the past seven days, since the NHS announced every adult can book a booster jab before the end of December, the North West has vaccinated more than half a million people – a 70% increase from the previous week.

With the booster vaccine being our best protection against the Omicron variant, 72.5% of eligible people aged over 40 in the region have received their top-up jab.

Dr Linda Charles-Ozuzu, Regional Director of Commissioning and Senior Responsible Officer for the Covid-19 vaccination programme in the North West, has praised efforts to protect communities against the new Omicron variant.

She said: “Thanks to the hard work from NHS staff, partners and volunteers, the region has vaccinated an impressive amount of people over the past week – protecting more people ahead of Christmas.

“A challenging winter lies ahead so I would like to encourage anyone who is eligible but not yet been vaccinated to come forward to protect yourself and those around you. Appointments and walk-in slots are available at more than 300 sites across the North West for first, second and booster jabs.”

Since the Covid-19 vaccination programme began over a year ago, the NHS in the North West has delivered more than 13.2 million jabs, part of 106 million in England.

People can book their vaccine appointment online at www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or by phoning 119. A wide range of walk-in clinics are also available around the region, with many offering extra appointment slots during the run up to Christmas. People can use the NHS online walk-in finder to find their nearest walk-in site.