NHS vaccination teams have visited every care home in England to offer Covid-19 boosters and flu jabs ahead of the festive period.

NHS England said over 15,000 care homes had been visited with around nine in ten (88.6%) of eligible care home residents having had their Covid-19 booster.

NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: “I am delighted that our dedicated NHS staff have been able to go into every care home in England in the last 12 weeks to make sure residents are protected ahead of Christmas, meaning they can spend much needed time with family and friends without the anxiety of spreading covid and its potential consequences.

“It is fantastic that so many residents are already up to date with their jabs and I’d encourage everyone eligible to get vaccinated as soon as possible as we head into colder months where we notoriously see increased illness and hospitalisation especially among the elderly.”

NHS director for vaccinations and screening Steve Russell said: “Care home residents are among those we prioritised at the start of this rollout to make sure our hard-working teams of vaccinators could get to as many care homes and provide protection to as many residents as quickly as possible.

“We have now visited every care home to offer life-saving protection from Covid just in time to make sure loved ones can spend time together this Christmas and I would urge anyone eligible but yet to get their jab to book an appointment now.”

Chief nurse for adult social care Deborah Sturdy MBE urged care home staff to have their Covid-19 boosters earlier this month.

The latest NHS figures show just 17% of staff in older adult care homes have had their Covid-19 boosters.