Everyone over the age of 50 will be able to book their Covid booster and flu jab in England from Friday.
In July, the Government announced all those over the age of 50 would be eligible for a booster jab as part of the autumn programme.
The majority of the 12 million people in the age group will be offered the new bivalent Covid vaccine, which targets the original strain of the virus and the Omicron variant.
Previously only those who were over the age of 64, frontline health care staff, carers, anyone who is pregnant, people with health conditions and households with those who are immunosuppressed had been eligible for a booster jab.
It is estimated that 26 million people will be eligible for a booster vaccine this autumn and 33 million for the flu jab.
The first Covid booster slots will be available from Saturday, and flu jabs from Monday.
It is possible to ask for both jabs during an appointment but it will be subject to availability and what that specific site offers, the NHS said.
NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said: “Thanks to the incredible work of our frontline staff across the country, our Covid autumn vaccination programme continues to go from strength to strength as we open up eligibility to around 12 million more people from tomorrow.
“The rollout is off to a flying start – we have invited twice as many people as we did last autumn and we have jabbed twice as many people as we did last autumn.
“As we approach what could be an extremely challenging winter for the NHS, it is vital to get your protection against both Covid and flu so please come forward and book in when you can.”
It comes amid growing concerns about a rampant return of the flu this winter.
On Tuesday, Sadiq Khan called on eligible Londoners to get their Covid-19 booster and flu vaccine amid fears that a “twindemic” of both viruses could put severe pressure on the NHS this winter.
Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at UK Health Security Agency, has previously said there are “strong indications we could be facing the threat of widely circulating flu, lower levels of natural immunity due to less exposure over the last three winters and an increase in Covid-19 circulating with lots of variants that can evade the immune response”.
The number of Covid cases in the UK jumped by 25 per cent in a week according to figures released last week.
Around 1.3 million people in private households across the UK are likely to have tested positive for the virus in the week to September 26, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
This is up from 1.1 million the previous week and marks the highest total since the seven days to August 16.
Sarah Crofts, ONS deputy director of the Covid-19 infection survey, said infections were rising in England but the picture was “uncertain” in the rest of the UK.
“Amongst the over-70s there has been a marked increase in infections in England this week, a trend which we will closely monitor as the winter months progress,” she added.
