Dame Jenny is one of hundreds of people honoured for their work during the pandemic. 

Professor Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, is knighted, as is his deputy, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, and the chief medical officers for Scotland and Wales, Gregor Smith and Frank Atherton. 

Sir Patrick Vallance, who was originally knighted in the 2019 New Year Honours list, is elevated to a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath.

In April, Dame Jenny, who was England’s deputy chief medical officer, became the inaugural chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, which merged Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace.

Series of problems for coronavirus testing programme

The NHS’ Covid testing programme has been the subject of repeated criticism.

Most recently, the UKHSA has been accused of failing to order extra tests or increase domestic production in advance of changes in government policy, which have driven a surge in demand.

Covid sufferers can now end self-isolation after just a week if they test negative on two successive days. Close contacts of Covid sufferers are also strongly advised to take a lateral flow test every day for a week, rather than self-isolating. 

With the omicron variant driving up infections to record levels, the demand for tests has now outstripped supply.