Prime Minister Boris Johnson's announcement of an expansion of boosters on Tuesday followed a series of recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
As well as recommending that all over-18s in the UK should be offered top-up vaccines, the JCVI said the minimum gap between the second dose and boosters should be cut from six to three months.
In a letter released on Friday, NHS England acknowledged services were already under pressure but said there was a new "national mission" to increase vaccine capacity.
Setting out steps for ramping up the booster roll-out, the letter said the Army and "clinical students" could be called on to help deliver vaccines.
It also said the NHS's booking service for vaccinations in England would be updated "no later" than 13 December to allow all adults to book their top-up jabs and to reflect the change in guidance from the JCVI.
The plans would see GPs asked to defer treatment for the over-75s where it was clinically appropriate to do so.
Dr Gary Howsam, vice chair of the Royal College of GPs, said "capacity needs to expand" in order to meet the target of offering all eligible people a booster jab by the end of January.
"These are sensible, temporary measures that will address some of the bureaucratic demands on practices and have minimal impact on the care patients receive in general practice, allowing GPs and our teams to focus their efforts where currently most clinically necessary," Dr Howsam said.
However, Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, a campaign group for older people, said NHS England's proposals were a "blatant case of age discrimination" that suggested "once you reach the age of 75 your health is of less importance than the rest of the population".
He said deferring checks for the early warning signs of illnesses such as strokes, cancers and diabetes was "counter-productive" as it would see patients "pushed out of primary care" and being treated in hospitals, which he said would not help with the burden on the NHS.
Dr Farah Jameel, the GP committee chair of the British Medical Association, said the measures would release GPs from "filling out paperwork" and chasing "unnecessary" and often "undeliverable" targets.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We have been struggling with significant prevailing workforce pressures - backlog pressures, winter pressures, pandemic pressures."
Dr Jameel said the measures would allow staff to prioritise the most vulnerable patients and support the "national priority" to vaccinate people as quickly as possible.
She insisted patients who were unwell or had worrying symptoms would continue to receive care from their GPs.
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said pausing some regular GP services risked "building up future ill health" that would have been detected in routine checks and further disrupting the relationship between patients and the NHS.
First Welsh Omicron case
Until the rollout was expanded, boosters had been restricted to those aged 40 and over, front-line health or social workers, and those with health issues.
Priority for boosters will still be given to those at the greatest risk, with jabs being given in descending age groups and to the most at-risk groups first, NHS England's letter says.
On Friday the UK reported a further 50,584 cases of coronavirus and a further 143 deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test.
The rush to expand the vaccination programme comes as more cases of the Omicron variant, first identified in South Africa where it is driving a surge in infections, are found.
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Arthur Labinjo-Hughes should have been a top priority for social services but was "missed" during the coronavirus lockdown, a child protection boss has said.
He was left with an unsurvivable brain injury in June last year, after being left in the care of his father's girlfriend, who was jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 29 years on Friday. Hughes was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 21 years in prison.
Local MP Julian Knight has said he plans to appeal to the Attorney General to lengthen Hughes and Tustin's sentences under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.
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Video released by the police shows Arthur's father and step-mother eating ice cream and another video of Tustin eating McDonalds
New CCTV from inside the couple's home released by West Midlands Police shows them eating ice cream as Arthur starved out of sight.
It emerged during the couple's trial that Arthur's grandmother had pictures of his bruises and asked social services to visit him, but staff said they had "no safeguarding concerns".
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Body camera footage of Emma Tustin lying to police
Wendy Thorogood, director of association of Child Protection Professionals, told Times Radio he "should" have been a priority for local services.
"You would have expected them to actually look at his history, but unfortunately they go on what they see at the moment in time," she said.
"I would have expected any assessment to really take account of the grandmother's photos, I would have expected joint conversations and real conversations [with Arthur]... and that appears to have been missed."
Arthur and his father moved in with Tustin at the start of the COVID lockdown in March last year, Coventry Crown Court was told.
He did not return to school when it reopened at the beginning of June.
Ms Thorogood added: "We have to remember this was under COVID, so he wasn't actually getting additional oversight from school and education.
"He wasn't on a child protection list, he wasn't one of the children that you would have considered to be a priority."
Former children's minister Tim Loughton told Sky News on Friday that we "urgently need to learn the lesson from this case".
"We still have a profession that is very stretched," he said. "But if you don't join up with other agencies and ask the awkward questions and keep at it, it's a false economy because tragedies like this will still happen.
"The question we have to ask is why the system didn't work to protect this child."
Solihull's Local Child Safeguarding Partnership has launched an independent review following the court revelations.
The social services visit in April 2020 was promoted after Arthur's paternal grandmother, Joanne Hughes, rang the out-of-hours emergency social services team to report bruising she had seen on the boy's back.
But despite social workers examining him and finding a "faint" yellow bruise, they agreed with Tustin and Hughes that it was a "happy household".
In her victim impact statement, which she read in court ahead of the sentencing, Ms Hughes said Arthur, as a "happy, contented, thriving seven-year-old" would "be alive today" had her son not met Tustin.
The secondary school teacher added: "It is also clear that Arthur was failed by the very authorities that we, as a society, are led to believe are there to ensure the safety of everyone."
More than one million people have booked an appointment for a booster jab this week after the public were urged to have the shot following the emergence of the Omicron variant.
The NHS has said 1,077,514 booster jab appointments have been made so far this week and a total of 3.6m people are already booked in to have their third dose this month.
More than 16.2 million third jabs have been delivered in England since the NHS began rolling out the booster programme in September.
The booster jab was initially only offered to over-50s, people in care homes, frontline health and social care workers and vulnerable people between 16 and 49.
However, on Monday afternoon it was announced all adults would be offered a COVID-19 booster vaccine as the government backed a far-reaching expansion of the jabs programme to deal with the potential impact of the Omicron variant.
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Over half of UK Omicron cases are double-jabbed
The NHS is aiming to offer the booster jab to everyone who is eligible by the end of January, with the third dose now being offered to people aged 40 and over.
So far 1.3 million people aged between 40 and 49 have had their booster jab.
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NHS bosses said on Friday that the programme will be sped up from 13 December at the latest.
From that date, or earlier, the online booking system for coronavirus vaccines will be updated in order to allow people to book their booster jab three months after their second dose.
It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson accepted experts' advice to slash the waiting time for a booster dose from six months to three months, following the discovery of the Omicron variant.
In a letter to local health leaders, the chiefs of NHS England set out plans for the ramping up of the roll-out in the coming weeks.
They said, in line with advice from the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), that "the NHS will offer vaccination in descending age groups, with priority given to the vaccination of older adults and those in a COVID-19 at-risk group first".
The letter added that "the National Booking Service (NBS) is now being updated to reflect the three-month (91 days) interval from second dose to booster".
"Our intention is to go live as soon as possible and no later than 13 December," it continued.
NHS bosses also confirmed that GP surgeries will be able to postpone some routine health checks in order to focus on delivering booster jabs.
"From 1 December 2021 to 31 March 2022, where contractors consider it clinically appropriate, routine health checks for those over 75 and for new patients may be deferred," the letter said.
Dr Nikki Kanani, NHS deputy vaccination lead, said: "While we are just three weeks away from the Christmas break and very much looking forward to spending time with loved ones, the emergence of the new variant is obviously a concern for us all and we are seeing hundreds of thousands of people booking to receive their life saving protection every day.
"NHS staff are continuing to pull out all the stops to boost the most vulnerable as quickly as we possibly can."
She continued: "My message to those who are currently eligible for the booster - anyone over 40 as well as well as those with health conditions, and health and care workers - is please do come forward for your vaccination."
Another 75 cases of the Omicron variant were found in England on Friday, bringing the total to 104.
The mother of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes has released photos showing them together and smiling in the years before the six-year-old was killed by his "wicked" stepmother and "pitiless" father.
In the undated family images, the child is seen wearing Batman and Spiderman woolly hats and also has a Superman T-shirt on as he is held in Olivia Labinjo-Halcrow's arms.
The 32-year-old violently shook him and repeatedly banged his head, likely against the hallway wall. The child, whose body was also covered in 130 bruises, died in hospital the next day.
His father Thomas Hughes, 29, was found guilty of his manslaughter and jailed for 21 years after encouraging the killing.
Their cruelty against the boy started soon after the couple sparked up a "volatile and dysfunctional" relationship from August 2019.
It followed a period of traumatic upheaval for Arthur, whose birth mother, Labinjo-Halcrow, was herself jailed for stabbing her own partner to death in a drink and drug-fuelled rage in 2019, leaving Hughes in sole custody of their son.
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Hughes and Labinjo-Halcrow had shared custody of Arthur, until her arrest for killing delivery driver Gary Cunningham, 29, in their Birmingham home in February that year.
Labinjo-Halcrow's conviction was later quashed in August 2020 after an appeal, but she was found guilty of manslaughter for a second time following a retrial in July 2021 and sentenced to 11 years.
Labinjo-Halcrow and Mr Cunningham, who met on an alcohol awareness course, both "drank too much and had mental health problems", the judge said.
The judge said: "There were fights. Gary was violent to you and you were violent to Gary."
Prior to the killing, during an incident in November 2018 Labinjo-Halcrow had stabbed Mr Cunningham in the arm, while Arthur was in their flat.
During the fatal attack on 23 February, 2019, her victim was stabbed four times; once in the chest and three more times in his left leg, including a fatal blow behind his knee which was 11cm deep.
The judge added: "However drunk and drugged you were that morning I'm quite sure you know what actually happened."
She added: "After you had been arrested you told them (police) he had killed himself.
"You were taken out of the flat and walked past his dead body covered with a sheet. You didn't show a flicker of emotion. You stepped over his dead body."
The judge, concluding there was no element of self-defence to her crime, told her: "You are an intelligent woman, academically successful in school and attended university.
"You used that intelligence to tell this jury an extensive and elaborate series of lies you made up after you killed Gary in order to describe the relationship where you had been the victim."
Downing Street have confirmed "in-person events" such as parties will be held in the lead up to the festive period as a Cabinet minister urged Britons to "keep calm and carry on with your Christmas plans".
"As the prime minister has previously made clear, these events are within the latest guidance and we do not want people to cancel them," the spokesperson said.
Later on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he believes "Christmas should go ahead as normally as possible".
It comes as the number of confirmed Omicron cases in the UK is expected to rise sharply, and after the Irish government implemented new coronavirus restrictions for the festive period including caps on the number of households allowed to mix indoors and attend large sporting and cultural events and the return of table service in hospitality settings.
A source confirmed to Sky News that there will be an official update to UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) figures "shortly" and the UK total "won't be less" than 66.
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Meanwhile, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), one in 60 people were expected to have coronavirus in the week up to 27 November.
The latest data was released as Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden told Sky News that people should continue to go to the pub and dine at restaurants during the festive season.
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PM gives thumbs-up to Christmas parties
Mr Dowden said the government had taken "sufficient" action against Omicron so far and that there is no need for people to cancel their festive plans.
"The message to people is fairly straightforward, which is keep calm, carry on with your Christmas plans," Mr Dowden said.
"We've put the necessary restrictions in place, but beyond that, keep calm and carry on."
But many are cancelling festive events off their own accord, with supermarket Sainsbury's the latest to ask colleagues to postpone their Christmas parties amid fears the new variant will lead to higher staff absence levels during the holiday trading period.
Scientists are worried the new Omicron variant could be more transmissible or more evasive to existing immunity than other strains of the virus.
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COVID: 1 in 60 in England positive
The government has responded by reintroducing mandatory mask-wearing in some settings in England, while also tightening self-isolation rules and travel restrictions.
However, recent days have also seen mixed messages from government ministers and public health officials over what festive celebrations, including Christmas parties, should look like this year.
This has led to criticism from within the hospitality industry, which has reported the cancellation of some Christmas parties.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, the PM was adamant once more that festive events should go ahead as planned and that no rules were broken by Downing Street staff at alleged Christmas parties during a time of coronavirus restrictions last year.
"What I have said throughout as this thing was brought up is that is not true, we followed the guidance throughout and continue to follow the guidance," Mr Johnson said.
"And on the subject of Christmas parties, I notice there has been quite a lot of toing and froing about it, people concerned that they need to cancel their Christmas parties.
"That is not right, we are not saying that and we are not saying that nativity plans have to be cancelled.
"I believe very strongly that kids should be in school and I also think that Christmas should go ahead as normally as possible.
"What we are trying to do is cope with the Omicron variant and that means having some tough measures at the border and also some measures to make sure people isolate if they come into contact with an Omicron case.
"Plus, we are toughening up the measures on masks. And that is a balanced and proportionate approach to take to Omicron whilst we wait to get to the bottom of exactly the risk it poses.
"But, key point, whatever the risk Omicron may pose, or may not post, the booster id everywhere and vaccine is always going to be your best protection."
Mr Dowden echoed the PM in stating that people shouldn't abandon their existing plans.
"We have not changed the advice around people taking part in hospitality - so going to the pub, going to restaurants and so on," he added.
"And actually I think most pubs and restaurants up until very recently have been doing very well during this season and we're not discouraging people to do so."
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People can 'enjoy Christmas again' if sensible - prof
Mr Dowden later revealed that the Conservatives were pushing ahead with a planned Christmas party themselves.
"I think there's a Conservative Party political party, as it were, Christmas party, I think is still planned, and I don't intend to cancel it as chairman of the Conservative Party," he told BBC Breakfast.
"It will just be a normal Christmas gathering of staff that are in London, we have staff in Leeds as well, and that is completely consistent with the rules, and I would urge people to keep calm and carry on with their plans.
"We're not changing our plans either. Of course, if the situation changes and rules need to be updated, we'll comply with the rules as they stand."
Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner has revealed that a review of the party's Christmas gatherings led to a decision that a large get-together for the parliamentary Labour party would no longer go ahead.
However, she added: "We've said quite clearly that we don't think people should cancel their Christmas gatherings.
"But we do think the government should make clear advice to people what they should be doing."
It is understood that other Labour festive events are still being planned.
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Starmer backs 'sensible' Xmas parties
In his Sky News interview, Mr Dowden added the government's response to Omicron was "sufficient at this stage".
And he said he was "confident" that Britons would be able to "have a better Christmas than last year", although he urged people to get a COVID vaccine booster when they are called to do so.
"All of our advice is based on scientific evidence and indeed the chief medical officer [Professor Chris Whitty] and chief scientific adviser [Sir Patrick Vallance] attend cabinet and were at cabinet when we discussed this earlier this week," he said.
"That is why we have gone for this balanced and proportionate set of measures.
"So it is the case that, unlike previously in England, people will have to wear masks on public transport and they'll have to wear masks in retail settings and we've very much tightened up the border restrictions.
"We believe those are necessary and appropriate steps, but beyond that people can carry on with their plans as before.
"So I would say to people just keep calm, carry on with your Christmas plans as already set out."
Your Omicron questions answered: Watch a special programme with COVID experts on Sky News at 7pm
"Ticketless, drunken and drugged-up thugs" could have caused death as they stormed Wembley before the Euro 2020 final, says a review into the disorder.
The report by Baroness Louise Casey said there was a "collective failure" in planning for the match, which about 2,000 people got into illegally.
It noted 17 mass breaches of disabled access gates and emergency fire doors.
Lady Casey said the "appalling scene of disorder" as England played Italy led to a "day of national shame".
Her report said there was a "collective failure" in planning for the match on 11 July, including a "vulnerable" stewarding operation lacking experience partly because of the pandemic and the police deployment arriving "too late".
The knowledge that about 25,000 of Wembley's 90,000 seats would be left empty because of Covid restrictions contributed to a "perfect storm" of factors.
"Our team of role models were in our first major final for 55 years. However they were let down by a horde of ticketless, drunken and drugged up thugs who chose to abuse innocent, vulnerable and disabled people, as well as police officers, volunteers and Wembley staff," said Lady Casey.
"We are genuinely lucky that there was not much more serious injury or worse, and need to take the toughest possible action against people who think a football match is somehow an excuse to behave like that.
"I am clear that the primary responsibility for what went wrong at Wembley that day lies with those who lost control of their own behaviour."
The Metropolitan Police made 51 arrests connected to the final, 26 of which were made at Wembley, and says its investigation is ongoing.
"Detectives are assessing tens of thousands of hours of CCTV footage, body worn footage and social media clips to identify those responsible for the scenes of disorder," it said in a statement.
In all, there were 90 football-related arrests of England fans at Euro 2020.
The review into the disorder on the day also found that:
An England victory in the shootout would have created a "further huge public safety risk" with up to 6,000 people planning to storm the stadium at full-time to celebrate as the gates opened to allow ticket-holders to leave.
There was "a collective failure" among the organisations who staged the final to plan for the "foreseeable risk" of disorder and ticketless fans converging on the stadium.
Alcohol and drugs were a key factor in the disorder as fans arrived at the stadium up to eight hours before the 20:00 BST kick-off.
Planning for the final was hampered by the extra strain placed on authorities by managing the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and the loss of experienced stewards.
The Wembley Stadium safety officer made "significant and exceptionally brave" decisions around unchecked access and locking and re-opening turnstiles, without which there would have "likely" been "considerably more injuries or even fatalities"
What does the review recommend?
In the foreword of her report, Lady Casey says: "One of the saddest parts of this process has been hearing the testimony of FA staff.
"While they did not want the England team to lose that night, such was their concern for what might happen in the event of an England victory, they ended up with a feeling of huge relief at the result.
"In the end the penalty shootout went Italy's way, the rain came down, and the crowds dispersed largely quietly. But we should not lose sight of how close the alternative was. And they should never have had to feel that way anyway."
Lady Casey concluded that "law-abiding fans, our national team and our national game deserve better" and that the events of 11 July "can't be allowed to happen again".
She said the absence of fan zones close to the stadium were "potentially a very significant factor" in the situation spiralling out of control, and that the ban on drinking on London transport was not enforced strictly enough.
The national euphoria and focus on the final made fans gathering and disorder "foreseeable" and "there was a collective failure to plan for the worse-case scenario".
Lady Casey wrote: "Finally, the biggest challenge I lay down is around the culture that led some individuals on the day at Wembley, and in the days after on social media, to choose to behave in this way.
"What makes people believe that it is somehow acceptable to break into a stadium or abuse disabled entrances just because it is a big match or there are spare seats inside?
"Why on earth should black footballers be expected to continue to play for their country amid racist abuse from their own countrymen?"
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were racially abused on social media after the game.
Lady Casey recommends a series of more general changes to help prevent a repeat:
Empowering authorities to act more strongly against fans using drugs, flares and smoke bombs at matches and around stadiums and entering stadiums without a ticket.
A Football Association campaign to force "a sea-change in attitudes towards supporter behaviours".
Better communication between the agencies overseeing the match and the flow of fans to the stadium.
A new category for football matches "of national significance" to make organisers aware of the unique challenges of such major events.
England have been ordered to play one match behind closed doors and the FA fined 100,000 euros (£84,560) by European football governing body Uefa as punishment for the unrest.
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham said that "no event is set up to deal with such disgraceful behaviour from thousands of ticketless fans", but apologised "for the terrible experience that many suffered within Wembley on what should have been a historic night".
"We fully accept the report's findings and there are important learnings for us, as well as other agencies involved," he added. Collectively we must never allow this to happen again."
Lady Casey, speaking to the media after the publication of her report: "There is no easy target going to be had at Wembley again...in fact, there is almost a danger they will over-police it. That message needs to go out to any thug who thinks they can take on Wembley stewards again.
"If it had only been alcohol I don't think people would have been able to sustain themselves. To go from nine in the morning, 12 in the morning, and for 6000 people to stay on those steps, outside for the entire match. I think drugs is a significantly greater issue than probably people have realised."
Metropolitan Police Service Commander Rachel Williams: "I am deeply sorry that so many people who came to enjoy a day of football, were met with unacceptable scenes of disorder.
"This moment of national significance was tarnished by groups of ticketless, anti-social and thuggish football fans who were intent on causing disorder and committing criminal acts. We regret that we were not able to do more to prevent those scenes unfolding."
Julian Knight MP, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, said: "It is clear that we narrowly averted disaster on a major scale at Wembley. This day of national shame saw the behaviour of drunken and drugged-up thugs put the lives of genuine football fans at serious risk.
"That a collective failure in planning allowed safety breaches on this scale is a grave charge given that the risk was foreseeable.
"We must see action taken by football authorities before we bid for any major tournaments. The DCMS Committee will be monitoring not what is said today but what is done in the weeks and months ahead."
A statement from Brent council said: "We welcome Baroness Casey's detailed and balanced report. This is not about a blame game, this is about learning lessons to ensure that the shocking scenes of Euro Sunday can never be repeated. We will work closely with partners, including the FA and Metropolitan Police, to take forward the recommendations."
Fan accounts: 'One group of 10 mates in our row - all snorting cocaine'
BBC Radio 5 live spoke to several fans after the report was released:
Paul: "It was sort of warzone conditions outside Wembley Park. Broken glass, drunkenness, open drug-taking the likes of which I've never seen before and it was an extremely worrying situation to walk into. It really put a downer on what was going to be a great day.
"With all the issues around the disorder, stewards were diverted to that and there was no searches of bags or anything as you went through the turnstiles. Anything could have been brought in at that point."
Tom: "All the stairs were blocked up, the fire exits were blocked. In our row there ware a group of 10 mates none of them had tickets, all of them were snorting cocaine. It felt very very dangerous."
Tony: "Outside the semi-final was awful as well. That was a lesson that should have been learnt by the authorities to have bolstered security up for the final. It was poor for the semi-final but absolutely diabolical for the final.
"For so many years I've been following England and this was meant to be culmination of all of that but it was just such a let down."
John: "The first thing that we saw that really shocked us - the Covid app had stopped working and people were just flashing their phones [to the stewards]. There was a guy in front of us who showed them an email from Argos, that got him in."
Alistair: "It was clear that the people who were organising security around the game and around Wembley don't understand football.
"The magnitude of the occasion as we progressed further and further through the tournament… Anyone who follows football regularly could see that this was going to happen and yet the security layout was almost identical from those first group games all the way through to the final."
'This was dicey... it was scary'
BBC sports news correspondent Natalie Pirks
I've been to hundreds of matches at Wembley in my two decades of being a sports broadcaster. This was dicey... it was scary. It felt like nothing I've ever experienced before.
I would always have said in the past that I'd take my children to England matches but I was so very glad that they weren't there that day.
It was very evident from about 10am that there were no police around. There were fans that were already drunk and worse, and there was no-one around. It does say in the report the police didn't start getting there until about noon, and at that time there were already a lot of fans on the ground.
From 1pm onwards, given it was an 8pm kick-off, you knew what that would entail in terms of drinking all day - but it was so much worse. Flares going off, drug-taking in the streets, lamp posts being bent over, fighting.
When you go abroad with England, you see certain England fans who are very respectful of the culture, they enjoy being with England and are very respectful generally of the country. The fans that you saw that day are not necessarily those England fans.