UK: NHS Draws Up Plans To Roll Out Covid Booster Jabs From September
'NHS draws up plans to roll out Covid booster jabs from September,' The Guardian, June 30, 2021. - Excerpts, Edited
The NHS is drawing up plans for a Covid injection booster programme that would roll out third shots of the vaccine to millions of the most vulnerable people in the UK from September. Public health officials are keen to offer the shots alongside winter flu jabs. The move follows interim advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to prepare a 2-stage autumn booster programme pending a final decision in the summer on whether to proceed.
Officials believe a further round of Covid shots may be needed to keep levels of protection high enough over the autumn and winter, when cases of coronavirus are expected to rebound at the same time as the UK enters what could be a particularly bad influenza season. Flu jabs will be extended again this year to all over-50s. Extra shots of Covid vaccine are seen as particularly important for vulnerable people whose immunity may have waned since they had their shots, and to beef up protection against any variants of the virus that partially evade the vaccines.
“The primary objective of any potential Covid-19 booster vaccine programme should be to reduce serious disease, including death,” said Prof Wei Shen Lim, chair of the JCVI’s Covid-19 group.
“The JCVI’s interim advice is that, should a booster programme be required, a third Covid-19 vaccine dose should be offered to the most vulnerable first, starting from September 2021, to maximise individual protection and safeguard the NHS ahead of winter. Almost all these people would also be eligible for the annual flu vaccine and are strongly advised to have the flu vaccine.”...
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/30/nhs-draws-up-plans-to-roll-out-covid-booster-jabs-from-september
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'When can masks be ditched? UK leader to revamp virus rules,' AP, July 4, 2021,
https://apnews.com/article/england-europe-coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-b155cce2b747d41cd8927634b43f1e2d
- Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his visit to Nissan plant in Sunderland, England, July 1, 2021. He said unspecified “extra precautions” will be needed in coming weeks even as he voiced confidence that the remaining restrictions on social contact in England will be lifted on July 19. Johnson said he will reveal details of what the end of lockdown restrictions will look like in the coming days.
