Covid-19: Over-70s could get booster jabs from September
Brits aged 70 and over could start receiving booster Covid-19 jabs from September to protect them from new variants of the virus.
Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the booster doses will go to people in the top four priority groups, which includes the clinically vulnerable and frontline NHS and social care staff, as well as over-70s.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Zahawi said September was the “most likely date” for beginning the rollout.
The plan means some Brits will receive three doses within just 10 months of the vaccine being in use.
Zahawi also revealed that ministers were expecting up to eight different vaccines to be available by the autumn with a number made in the UK, including one that could protect from three different Covid variants in a single jab.
The comments come as the UK’s vaccine rollout continues at pace, with 29 million people now receiving a first dose — more than half the adult population.
The government has said that all UK adults will receive a first dose by the end of July.
Zahawi said drive-through vaccine centres will soon be opened in a bid to counter vaccine hesitancy among people in their 30s, 40s and 50s.
“We did some fantastic pilots of drive-in jabs that went really well. And again, as we go down the cohorts in the current deployment you’re going to see more of that,” he said.
“It’s a great way as you do the under-50s, the under-40s, under-30s. Convenience becomes a much greater tool to deploy because you want to make sure for those people, where we think there may be greater hesitancy, we make it as convenient as we can make it.”
Currently, two Covid vaccines are available in the UK — those made by Astrazeneca and Pfizer. A third, made by Moderna, is expected to be ready for use next month.
But concerns are rising over a third wave of the virus sweeping across Europe, as well as the slow rollout of the vaccine on the continent.
The row over vaccine exports escalated this week after French foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian accused the UK of trying to “blackmail” France over jabs.
But Zahawi insisted the government was pushing ahead with its rollout plans, adding that some new vaccines would be manufactured in the UK.