North East health bosses say they are ramping up the rollout of the Covid booster programme

• Video report by Tom Barton.

Health figures in the North East say they are ramping up the rollout of the Covid booster programme.

It comes after the PM announced on Sunday (12th December) an extension of the scheme which will see all adults in England offered a booster jab by the end of the year.

Yesterday (13 December) marked the busiest Monday ever in the Covid vaccination rollout.

But with the target of getting everyone eligible boosted by the new year, there's still a lot of work to do.

Eugene Milne, Newcastle's Director of Public Health, said: "People need to be a little bit patient because of course with everyone rushing to get their vaccines as quickly as possible, it is inevitable that the system will be overwhelmed.

"What we are looking to do over the next week or two with our colleagues is to expand the availability of vaccinations."

At Gateshead's Rawling Road Practice, practice manager Sheinaz Stansfield urged caution despite the booster vaccine rollout.

"I'm worried that Christmas nights out haven't been stopped, I'm worried that people continue to go to pubs, I worry that people are continuing with that social life," she said.

"And the reason being is, people who think that by having their vaccine booster booked that they will have that immunity over the next two weeks, they won't.

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This evening (14 December), MPs will vote on the Government's Plan B - the series of measures designed to fight the spread of the Omicron variant of covid 19. 

Boris Johnson will face the biggest rebellion of his time as Prime Minister, with dozens of Tory MPs set to vote against the new restrictions - which include Covid passes for entry into nightclubs and other venues.