All adults in the UK will be offered Covid-19 booster jabs as the country moves to protect people from the new Omicron variant of the virus.
Until now, only those aged 40 and over were being offered booster vaccines, but that will now be extended to all adults as concerns grow about the impact of the new variant that is spreading around the world.
Making its announcement today, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said it believed now was the right time to extend the booster programme, before a potential wave of Omicron in the UK.
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It means that anyone aged 18 and over will be eligible for a third jab - although only after three months has passed since their second jab.
The JCVI said that the jabs will be prioritised by age groups and those who are considered most at risk.
Those who are severally immunocompromised will be offered another booster - which will be their fourth jab.
And children aged between 12 and 15 will now be encouraged to take up a second jab.
In terms of the boosters, the vaccines created by Pfizer and Moderna will be used.
It is still not known whether the Omicron variant, first registered in South Africa, can evade the current vaccines, but Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said it seemed 'likely' that the jabs we have will not be as effective against the new variant.
He said: "This variant is of increased concern.
"There is a very high degrees of current uncertainty. There are far more things we don't know than do know, but that will change very quickly over the next three weeks as scientists mobilise around the world..
"What we can say is that Omicron has many mutations, this makes us worried about a possible effect on vaccine effectiveness.
"In South Africa, there is definitely an elevated growth rate, but this isn't the same as saying there is increased transmissibility - this needs more work.
"It is not all doom and gloom at this stage and I don't want people to panic.
"If vaccine effectiveness is reduced, as seems pretty likely to some extent, the biggest effects are likely to be in preventing infections and hoping there will be smaller effects in preventing disease."
The JCVI said it is working with scientists to look at potential modifications to the current vaccines that will make them more effective against Omicron.
Announcing the extension of the booster programme in the UK, JCVI Chair Professor Wei Shen Lim said: "The vaccines we are using were developed against the original virus. Variants increase the likelihood of a 'mismatch', which increases the chance that the effectiveness will be lowered."
He said one way of dealing with this is to increase the rate of people's immune response - which is done with a booster.
He added: "A boost of these vaccines provides a very strong immune response."
He said now was the right time to take this step, before any potential new wave of the Omicron variant hits the nation.
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