Government Hopes to Begin Booster Vaccine Roll-Out in Next Fortnight

The NHS is ready to launch a booster Covid vaccine roll-out in the next fortnight and is waiting for the ‘green light’ from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) – not that the group’s advice on the vaccination of children has been duly welcomed. The i has the story.

The JCVI is meeting on Thursday to review the latest data on the effect of giving a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine to people who have already had two.

Ministers and NHS bosses had been hoping to start the boosters rollout on Monday this week before the committee delayed its final decision on which groups should be offered a third jab.

They are now expecting an announcement within days – allowing the health service to call up elderly and vulnerable people for a jab almost immediately afterwards. 

A senior Government official told i: “The NHS is ready to move very quickly once a decision is made, the main delay would be contacting everyone who is eligible.”

There is a chance the campaign will be able to start as soon as next week, although the week after is currently seen as more likely.

The planned NHS timetable would see as many as 35 million jabs given out in the next three and a half months, similar to the rate of the original vaccines rollout, allowing for it to be complete by Christmas. Unlike at the start of this year, there are no significant restrictions on the supply available to the U.K.

It remains unknown whether everyone over-50 and all the clinically vulnerable will be eligible for a booster, or whether they are going to be restricted to the oldest groups and those most at risk from a coronavirus infection.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he was “confident” that the booster programme would be launched this month but that the Government was waiting for advice from the JCVI for final details.

He said: “I’m very confident there will be a booster programme but in terms of who actually gets it and when, we’re waiting for final advice, which could come across certainly in the next few days from the JCVI. We need to see that advice. I’m confident that we can start the booster programme this month.”

The JCVI will advise on issues such as whether people should get the same type of coronavirus vaccine as previous doses or different ones.

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