Call for ‘surge vaccinations’ as UK cases of India variant double

Sources say government poised to approve jab for over-16s in worst-affected areas

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Ministers are under growing pressure to deploy surge vaccinations" in Covid hotspots, with some local authorities pushing to extend the offer of jabs to over-18s to stop the spread of a coronavirus variant.

Boris Johnson said he was anxious about the spread of the variant first detected in India, as cases more than doubled in a week.