The next stage of Covid booster jabs is now set to be rolled out across the UK in autumn, with the most vulnerable being prioritised, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has told the government.
Experts have advised the government who should be prioritised for Covid-19 booster doses this autumn. As expected, vulnerable adults and frontline health and social care workers will be the first to receive the booster.
The JCVI has given interim advice to the government. It aims to maintain the protection of vulnerable Brits against the most severe Covid-19 symptoms over the winter months, the Mirror reports.
The JCVI’s current view is that in autumn 2022, a Covid-19 vaccine should be offered to:
- Residents in a care home for older adults and staff
- Frontline health and social care workers
- All those 65 years of age and over
- Adults aged 16 to 64 years who are in a clinical risk group
At the moment the advice should be considered to be an interim arrangement. It is also for the purpose of operational planning for the NHS during the Autumn, as well as helping care homes and the wider health community to prepare.
The committee has also acknowledged considerable uncertainty regarding the possibility of future waves of Covid-19 which may affect the UK in the coming year. It said that despite these uncertainties winter would remain the season where the threat was highest.
The main objective of the 2022 autumn booster programme will mirror that in 2021. They will aim to increase population immunity and protection from suffering severe and long term symptoms of the disease and minimise hospitalisation and death over the winter period.
It has also emerged that the NHS was planning for several scenarios in the rollout between September and December. Groups which were eligible ranged from people over 65 and NHS care staff, then to all over-50s.
Meanwhile people aged over 75 as well as people aged over 12 who are immunosuppressed have also been able to receive a booster in the spring. This was on the condition that they had had their previous dose at least six months prior.
For some people who are immunosuppressed, it would be the fifth vaccination they have received against Covid-19.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, Chair of COVID-19 vaccination on the JCVI, said: “Last year’s autumn booster vaccination programme provided excellent protection against severe COVID-19, including against the Omicron variant.
“We have provided interim advice on an autumn booster programme for 2022 so that the NHS and care homes are able to start the necessary operational planning, to enable high levels of protection for more vulnerable individuals and frontline healthcare staff over next winter.
“As we continue to review the scientific data, further updates to this advice will follow.”
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