Some vulnerable people will miss out on new autumn Covid booster jabs as eligibility criteria tightened
08.08.2023 - 16:05
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Health officials have announced that the number of people to receive the Covid-19 booster jab in the autumn will be reduced.
The vaccine will now only be offered to those aged 65 and over alongside health and care workers, and people living with specific health conditions. It comes alongside new advice on the UK booster programmes from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
Previously, the booster was offered to those aged 50 and over. Health officials said that the larger group was offered the jab last year due to an "emergency response" to the pandemic. However, the "success of these programmes has enabled us to live with Covid and, this year, we are able to scale back the number of people who require an autumn booster”, officials said.
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Those eligible for a vaccine as part of this year’s autumn booster programme include:
The JCVI added that adults who are waiting to receive a Covid vaccine will be eligible to get a single jab during the booster campaign. Professor Wei Shen Lim, chairman of Covid-19 immunisation on the JCVI, said: “The autumn booster programme will continue to focus on those at greatest risk of getting seriously ill.
“It is important that everyone who is eligible takes up a booster this autumn – helping to prevent them from hospitalisations and deaths arising from the virus over the winter months.”
The Covid-19 jab is not available through private providers in the UK.
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Dr Mary Ramsay, director of public health programmes at UKHSA, said: “The Covid-19 virus has not gone away and we expect to see it circulating