There is no “clear evidence” Covid vaccines have lost any efficacy, according to one expert.
The UK marked a huge milestone when it was recorded more than 91million Covid jabs have been rolled out in the UK as of Friday.
Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said the UK still had time to decide whether to give a booster jab to everyone or just target those most in need.
He told Sky News: “There isn’t any clear evidence that the vaccines we’ve given in this country so far have faded in their efficacy at preventing severe infection and hospitalisation which is really the most important thing the vaccine is designed to prevent.
“I think it’s very important that the recent announcement we made about patients with immuno-suppression… We now know for clear that they do have weaker responses to the vaccination and that a third dose boosts their responses in a significant proportion.
“So that’s why we made that announcement that we are prioritising that group for the third jab at this point in time.”
He said the government was “pretty close” to making a decision on booster jabs.
Public Health England announced on Friday 48,171,998 people have received a first dose of a vaccine while 43,142,747 have received a second dose.
The #COVID19 Dashboard has been updated: https://t.co/XhspoyTG79
— Public Health England (@PHE_uk) September 3, 2021
On Friday 3 September, 42,076 new cases and 121 deaths within 28 days of a positive test were reported across the UK
48,171,998 people have received a 1st dose of a #Vaccine
43,142,747 have received a 2nd dose. pic.twitter.com/1hPjZo69UX
It comes as advisers decided against recommending a mass rollout to children aged 12 to 15.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) announced it is widening the jabs programme to more children in this age bracket who have underlying health conditions.
But it is not recommending vaccination of all 12 to 15-year-olds, despite ministers indicating they favoured a broader programme and pressing for a quick decision.
Instead, it has suggested the Government might want to get further views on the wider societal and educational impacts of extending the jabs rollout.
