Around 1.6 million care home residents and staff and housebound people will be eligible for the autumn dose from today.

More than 700 care homes in England will be visited by vaccinating teams this week with thousands more scheduled before the end of the month with residents and staff set to receive the new variant-tackling jab.

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “Once again, the NHS is kicking off a lifesaving vaccination campaign to protect the nation ahead of winter, starting with those most vulnerable to serious illness and hospitalisation from covid and flu.

“NHS staff have been working incredibly hard to prepare for the latest phase of the covid vaccine rollout – the biggest and fastest in our 74-year history – with a record number of sites in local communities set to offer vaccinations to millions of people.”

From Wednesday, around seven million people, including those aged 75 and over, those who are immunosuppressed and health and care workers will be able to book in online or by calling 119.

Invitations should also be landing on doormats from 7 September inviting people to book their appointment for the following week without delay.

The NHS will contact people when it is their turn to book in for the vaccine – you do not need to contact the NHS.

Pritchard said: “When the booking service opens on Wednesday, don’t delay – the best way to protect yourself from serious illness this winter is to get the vaccine when invited to do so, as well as your annual flu jab if eligible.”

A record 3,100 sites are expected to be part of the rollout, including GP practices and community pharmacies, with new sites joining the programme all the time.

There will also be 80 hospital hubs jabbing members of the public as well as their own staff, administering with the flu vaccine where possible.

The autumn booster campaign is among a package of NHS measures to prepare for winter as the health service continues to face record demand on its urgent and emergency care services, including by ramping up bed capacity, increasing the number of 999 and NHS 111 staff, and working with colleagues in social care to ensure patients can be discharged in a timely manner.

The NHS will continue to advise local sites to allow people with a weakened immune system to self-declare and attend walk-ins to make getting the extra protection as easy as possible.

Around 26 million people across England will be eligible for an autumn booster over the coming weeks, which includes over 50s, those with a weakened immune system, health and social care workers and care home residents and housebound people, in line with guidance set out by the JCVI.

Well over four in five eligible people received a spring booster earlier this year and the NHS urged those people to get that dose before the end of July in order to ensure enough time had passed to optimise the protection an autumn booster would provide over winter.

The NHS will also be rolling out the flu vaccine and encouraging eligible people to take up the offer where possible.