ALMOST half a million Covid jab appointments are up for grabs over the Easter weekend as the NHS vaccination programme continues.

NHS staff are gearing up to protect all those who are eligible with vaccines for the whole family available including 5 to 11 year olds, booster jabs for all adults and spring doses for those who are eligible.

So far, 94,000 people have booked in for a jab between Friday and Monday, including 21,000 young people aged 5 to 11.

There are 460,000 slots still available at vaccination centres up and down the country. Hundreds of walk-in centres are also open for business and can be found by visiting the walk-in finder.

There are 62,361 appointments for jabs available in the North East and Yorkshire region.

Appointments can be booked on the NHS website and people that can’t go online can book by phoning 119. Local NHS teams are also offering walk in appointments and people can check where their nearest grab a jab site is online.

The NHS is continuing to invite people for their spring dose in line with JCVI guidance – as 470,000 were invited this week. Around 2.2 million invites have been sent so far to those who are eligible.