The NHS website appears to have been hit by a glitch as thousands of 25 to 29-year-olds try to book their vaccine appointments.

Many within the new, lowered age range have been told they are “not eligible” for the jab, while others have reported virtual queues of almost 11,000 people.

Others have reportedly received a message stating “you are now in a queue, lots of people are trying to book an appointment”, without receiving any suggestion of their position or how long they will have to wait.

It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced in the Commons on Monday that those aged 25 to 29 would be able to book their vaccine appointments from Tuesday morning.

“From this week we will start offering vaccinations to people under 30, bringing us ever closer to the goal of offering a vaccine to all adults in the UK by the end of next month.

“From tomorrow morning, we will open up vaccination to people aged 25 to 29,” Mr Hancock said in a statement to MPs.

Some had raised concerns about whether younger people would take up the opportunity to be vaccinated.

But the large queues as the system opened to 25 to 29-year-olds on Tuesday morning suggests the high demand.

Waited 15 minutes in the queue for on the NHS booking system for the vaccine only to get this.
Now the queue is over 5000 people – will all these people be hit by the same message? pic.twitter.com/TPQplfb0Fi

Many have taken to social media on Tuesday morning to report waits of more than thirty minutes to get through to book their jabs, only to be told they are not eligible.

Some had raised concerns about whether younger people would take up the opportunity to be vaccinated when given the green light to book their appointments.

But the large queues as the system opened to 25 to 29-year-olds on Tuesday morning suggests the high demand.

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