People aged 75 and over are to be offered an additional Covid vaccination this spring.
There will also be a further dose for people with a weakened immune system.
Across the UK, a second booster will be offered to:
- adults aged 75 and over
- residents in a care home for older adults
- people aged 12 and over with weakened immune systems
The dose will be given six months after the previous booster. The Pfizer vaccine will be offered to 12 to 18-year-olds, and either Pfizer or Moderna to other eligible people.
Previously, only people with severely weakened immune systems have been offered four jabs – defined as three primary doses and a booster.
The UK’s vaccine advisers, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said an extra dose would help maintain protection from severe Covid in the most vulnerable individuals.
Immunity declines over time and many of the groups affected received their third dose in September or October.
An autumn booster programme, aimed at a wider group of people, is also planned, but details have not yet been confirmed.
All children aged five to 11 in the UK will be offered a low-dose vaccine, which is being rolled out on a “non-urgent” basis.
It’s expected to be offered in England in April, and plans are also under way in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In addition:
- the low-dose vaccine is already being offered to five to 11-year-olds with medical conditions that put them at greater risk
- all children aged 12 and over are being offered two doses of the Pfizer jab
- sixteen and 17-year-olds who had a second vaccine dose at least three months ago can have a booster
- the JCVI has also recommended that the booster is also offered to children aged 12-15 who are in an at-risk group or live with someone who is immunosuppressed
You can book your first, second or booster jab online or go to a walk-in clinic.
You need to leave eight weeks between your first and second doses, and wait a further 12 weeks before your booster.
- In England: Over-12s can book first or second doses, and over-16s can book a third or booster dose online, by calling 119, or visiting a walk-in clinic
- In Scotland: Over-16s can register for their first dose or book their second or booster dose online, or by calling 0800 030 8013
- In Wales: Over-16s will be invited for their booster by their health board. If you’ve not been invited – or you’ve not had your first two doses – you can contact your health board
- In Northern Ireland: Over-12s can book online or call 0300 200 7813
First and second doses are either AstraZeneca or (for under-40s) Pfizer or Moderna.
The booster will be a single dose of either Pfizer or Moderna – regardless of which vaccine you received before.
However if you cannot have Pfizer or Moderna for medical reasons, you can have a booster dose of AstraZeneca.
Two other vaccines have also been approved for use in the UK – Janssen and Novavax, which has not yet been given to patients.
You should wait four weeks from the date of a positive test before having your jab, even if you have no symptoms.
Children who aren’t at high risk from Covid should wait 12 weeks after a positive test.
You shouldn’t have the booster if you have a severe illness or high fever, but Pfizer and Moderna say you don’t need to delay for a mild fever or a cold.
The vaccines don’t infect you with Covid, and can’t cause positive results on a lateral flow or PCR test.
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The most common side effects include a sore arm, headache, chills, fatigue and nausea.
They are part of the body’s normal immune response to vaccines and tend to resolve within a day or two.
There are extremely rare, but occasionally fatal, cases of people developing blood clots after taking the AstraZeneca vaccine.
A very small number of people have experienced a severe allergic reaction after the Pfizer vaccine.
You should discuss any existing serious allergies with your healthcare professional before being vaccinated.
For most people in the UK, the Covid vaccine isn’t mandatory.
Care home staff in England must already be vaccinated (unless exempt).
But the government has dropped plans to make almost all frontline NHS workers in England get fully jabbed by 1 April or lose their jobs.
There were fears compulsion would lead to a staffing crisis.
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