NHS website CRASHES again as thousands try to book Covid booster jabs

The NHS website crashed again this morning as hundreds of thousands of Britons rushed to book their Covid-19 booster doses just hours after Boris Johnson said it would open up to all adults in the country from today.

Those trying to book an appointment on the website were greeting with a message saying: ‘The NHS website is currently experiencing technical difficulties. We are working to resolve these issues. Thank you for your patience.’

It comes after the Prime Minister confirmed in a televised statement last night that he had turbocharged the booster programme, as the deadline to offer all adults a third jab is being brought forward by a month.

The Army will be drafted in and clinic hours extended to help dose 18million people by January 1 – nearly a million a day – as the PM warned of a ‘tidal wave’ of Covid that could overwhelm the NHS and cause ‘very many deaths’.

He said the ‘Omicron emergency’ meant boosters were vital to ‘protect our freedoms and our way of life’. Within minutes of his announcement, the NHS website crashed as thousands flocked to secure appointments.

Then again this morning, the NHS website was initially putting people in an online queue of more than 5,000 people shortly after 7am, saying that ‘lots of people are trying to book an appointment.’

Moments later while people were waiting, a message was displayed that the website was ‘currently experiencing technical difficulties’, and those trying to book a jab had to go back one webpage and try again.

Then, people were again put in a queue, but the NHS website was no longer listing the number of people in it, and simply said: ‘You are in a queue. Lots of people are trying to book an appointment at the moment.’

These messages also came up for people trying to book their booster jab on the NHS website this morning

Prime Minister Boris Johnson records an address to the nation about booster jabs from Downing Street in London yesterday