The United Kingdom extended its COVID-19 vaccination drive to people over the age of 70 on Monday, reported AFP. New tougher restrictions have been put into place for all arrivals to the country as well.

Nadhim Zahawi, Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment, told Sky News that vaccine shots are being offered in areas where individuals over the age of 80 had received their first of two doses of the jab.

The medical director for the state-run National Health Service (NHS) in England, Stephen Powis, explained the immunisation campaign had been expanded to an additional five million people.

Also read: UK coronavirus variant infects more than 100 at Belgium retirement home

“We are now able to expand the vaccination programme beyond those top two priority groups — that’s the care home residents, care home staff, the hospital staff and the over-80s — down to the over-70s,” Powis said.

Britain, which has been the worst-hit country by the novel coronavirus in Europe, has been shaken by the discovery of a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus, causing a surge in positive cases and deaths.

More than 89,000 people have lost their lives and nearly 3.4 million infected.

In view of criticism for the handling of pandemic, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration has pinned its efforts on mass vaccination for a return to normalcy.

More than 3.8 million people have received the first dose of vaccine since the inoculation first began in Britain on December 8 last year.

Also read: UK makes hotel quarantine mandatory for all passengers

In the first phase, senior citizens over the age of 80, nursing home residents and their carers and frontline health workers were given priority.

Britain’s health ministry said the over-70s and the extremely vulnerable would have access to vaccines from Monday where there were necessary supply and capacity to administer the shot.

The prime minister called the expansion of the vaccine programme a “significant milestone”.

In efforts to speed up the rollout of vaccine doses, health chiefs have delayed the second dose for up to 12 weeks.

New restrictions came into force at 4am GMT on Monday, requiring international travellers arriving in Britain to provide proof of a negative coronavirus test at least 72 hours before departure.

All international arrivals will also be required to quarantine for 10 days under the new rules, which replace a system of exemptions for less affected countries known as “travel corridors”.