UK to offer extra COVID-19 booster for over-75s and high risk in spring

An additional booster dose will be offered to all adults over-75, as well as the most vulnerable over-12s, in the UK this spring. The UK’s vaccine advisers said that an extra dose would help top up people’s protection against severe COVID-19.

Those who are currently being offered a second booster this spring, to be administered six months after their previous dose, are: adults aged 75 years and over, residents in a care home for older adults, individuals aged 12 years and over who are immunosuppressed, or have weakened immune systems.

Adults will be offered a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, while children aged 12-18 will receive Pfizer. Approximately around 7.2 million people in the UK aged over 75, who have already had their primary course of COVID-19 vaccines, will be eligible for the extra spring booster.

Those who are immunosuppressed and who have diseases such as blood cancer, or who have received an organ transplant or chemotherapy, are also eligible to get their additional booster jab.

Prof Wei Shen Lim, chair of COVID-19 vaccination at the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation, commented: "Last year's booster vaccination programme has so far provided excellent protection against severe COVID-19.

"To maintain high levels of protection for the most vulnerable individuals in the population, an extra spring dose of vaccine is advised ahead of an expected autumn booster programme later this year."

As immunity wanes over time, it is vital that those at high risk receive an additional boost to their immunity, to help them protect against severe disease. An autumn booster programme, aimed at a wider group of people, is alsp planned for later this year.

Lina Adams