UK to extend Covid-19 booster vaccine doses to over-40s

The authorities extended the rollout of the booster vaccine shots to all those aged 40 and over

The UK health authorities on Monday extended the rollout of the COVID-19 booster vaccine shots to all those aged 40 and over, from the current over-50s age cohort.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised the government that a third top-up dose should be offered to the wider age range six months after their second doses to to-up the immunity against the deadly virus.

The JCVI, an independent expert committee that advises ministers on immunisation, also advised that all 16 and 17 year olds be given a second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, at least 12 weeks after their first jabs.

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid confirmed that the National Health Service (NHS) in all four parts of the UK intend to follow the JCVI advice to help contain the spread of coronavirus.

We are expanding the programme even further and today I have accepted the advice from the independent experts at the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to extend the additional offer of a booster jab to people aged 40 and over, and offer a second dose of a vaccine to all young people aged 16 to 17 as part of the primary vaccination schedule, said Javid.

I have asked the NHS to prepare to offer those eligible a vaccine as soon as possible, he said.

The minister highlighted that immunity to COVID-19 begins to wane after six months as he pointed to new data published on Monday, which shows a third dose boosts protection against symptomatic infection to more than 90 per cent.

This highlights just how important it is that everyone eligible gets their top-up jabs as soon as possible This is a national mission the vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones and I urge everybody to get your jabs as soon as you can, Javid said.

The results from the first real-world study by the UK Health Security Agency shows that two weeks after receiving a booster dose, protection against symptomatic COVID infection for adults aged 50 and over was 93.1 per cent in those who had an Oxford/AstraZeneca dose being administered as Covishield in India, and 94 per cent for Pfizer/BioNTech.

What's happening is if you can get your booster then your immunity goes right back up to 95 per cent," British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters on a hospital visit in London.

So far, around 12.6 million people have had a third COVID-19 jab in the UK.

"So, I believe therefore that if the booster programme is successful and with very high uptake, we can massively reduce the worry about hospitalisation and death due to COVID at Christmas and for the rest of this winter for literally millions of people. It really is as simple and as decisive as that," Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, said at a briefing on Monday.

It comes as the UK's official daily coronavirus figures showed a small dip from over 40,000 mark to 36,517 on Sunday, when 63 COVID-19 deaths were recorded.