New round of Spring booster Covid jabs will be on offer within weeks – are you eligible?

A FRESH round of Covid booster jabs are set to be dished out in a matter of weeks, with millions of Brits called forward to get them.

The life-saving vaccine will be offered to Brits at risk of serious illness during the upcoming spring booster campaign, following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

GettyBrits at risk of serious illness from Covid will be eligible for a spring Covid booster[/caption]

Though the winter booster campaign only just drew to a close on January, the JCVI announced its intention to offer more jabs to vulnerable groups this spring.

Recent reports show Covid-19 cases slowly decreasing, following a surge during December and January largely fuelled by a ‘devious’ new variant nicknamed Juno.

The spike landed some 3,949 people in hospital last month, as the NHS grappled with what Professor Sir Stephen Powis called “a challenging winter”.

Dr Mary Ramsay, director of public health programmes at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said: “Our on-going surveillance shows that Covid-19 continues to cause severe illness, particularly in older age groups and those who are immunosuppressed, but also clearly shows that spring and autumn vaccines are effective in helping to protect those most at risk – halving the likelihood of hospitalisation from the virus.

“I urge everyone who is eligible to take up the offer of a vaccine as soon as possible once invited – it will help improve your immunity to COVID-19, which does wane over time.”

“Vaccination continues to help protect against severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths from Covid-19,” the JCVI added in its announcement of the spring booster campaign.

Who will be eligible for a Covid-19 Booster?

The same groups will be eligible to get a jab as in previous booster campaigns, including older adults, individuals with a lowered immune system and care home residents.

But the JCVI noted that the age threshold for immunosuppressed Brits able get jabbed had been lowered to babies as young as six months.

Last year, only immunosuppressed children aged five and over were eligible.

Here’s who will be able to get a booster jab this spring:

Adults aged 75 years and over

Residents in a care home for older adults

Individuals aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed

Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of Covid-19 immunisation on the JCVI, said the spring booster programme would “continue to focus on those at greatest risk of getting seriously ill, who will benefit the most from a further vaccine dose”.

He added: “It is important that everyone who is eligible takes up the offer this spring.

“Current vaccines provide good protection against severe disease, hospitalisation and can protect those most vulnerable from death.”

NHS England is set to confirm where and when eligible people will be able to access the spring vaccine in due course.

UKHSA surveillance data from last year’s spring booster programme showed that those who received a vaccine were around 50 per cent less likely to be admitted to hospital with Covid-19, compared to those who did not receive one.

Vaccine uptake for last year’s spring programme for those aged 75 years and over was 67.5 per cent.

People in England and Scotland will also be able to pay to get a Covid jab privately come April 1, as pharmacies prepare to offer vaccinations for £45 pounds a pop.