The Health and Social Care Secretary has accepted the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice that those at higher risk of severe COVID-19 should be offered a booster vaccination in the autumn.
This follows JCVI’s interim advice for 2023 and means booster COVID-19 vaccination will be offered in England to:
- residents in a care home for older adults
- all adults aged 65 years and over
- persons aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group, as defined in tables 3 and 4 of the COVID-19 chapter of the Green book
- frontline health and social care workers
- persons aged 12 to 64 years who are household contacts, as defined in the Green book, of people with immunosuppression
- persons aged 16 to 64 years who are carers, as defined in the Green book, and staff working in care homes for older adults
Eligible groups omit healthy adults below the age of 65, who are not included in any other eligible group.
JCVI advice relates to the UK, so other UK nations are expected to follow suit.
JCVI advise that to optimise protection over the winter, the autumn programme should aim to complete vaccinations by early December 2023.
The Health and Social Care Secretary said NHS England will confirm details on how and when eligible people can access the autumn booster vaccine shortly and urged anyone invited – including those yet to have their first jab - to come forward as soon as possible.
JCVI also advised that, from autumn 2023, primary course COVID-19 vaccination should consist of a single dose of vaccine, with eligibility the same as for autumn 2023 booster. Details of exceptions to this advice, such as for those who are immunosuppressed, will be set out in the Green book.
There is information about the flu vaccination campaign for 2023/24 here.
Health and Social Care Secretary statement on autumn booster programme - GOV.UK
COVID-19 vaccination programme - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Update (10 August) on campaign timing: NHS England » Autumn/Winter (AW) 2023-24 Flu and COVID-19 Seasonal Campaign.
