Some 600,000 people in England will be invited to book an extra Covid booster this week, as the NHS launches its spring booster programme.
The shot is offered to adults 75 and older, nursing home residents, and the most vulnerable 12 and older.
Approximately five million people in the UK will be eligible, with the first invitations sent out from Monday.
It comes as Covid cases continue to rise across the UK, with an estimated one in 20 people infected.
Last month, UK vaccine advisers said an extra dose would help boost protection against severe Covid-19, and some immunity is likely to wane.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged people to “advertise as soon as you are contacted by the NHS”.
Until now, only people with severely weakened immune systems had been eligible to receive four injections: three doses plus a booster.
Starting Monday, a second booster, to be given six months after the previous dose, will be offered to:
- adults over 75 years
- residents in a nursing home
- people 12 years and older who are immunosuppressed or have weakened immune systems
Local NHS teams will also offer vaccinations in nursing homes, with hundreds of visits planned in the coming weeks.
Scotland and Wales have already launched their spring booster programmes, under the same terms. There is currently no confirmed date for when the additional booster will be administered in Northern Ireland, although the government would do so this spring.
Eligible adults will be offered the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, and those between the ages of 12 and 18 will be offered the Pfizer vaccine.
NHS Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said efforts to protect people from coronavirus have not stopped.
“We have protected millions of people quickly, through the efforts of our staff, with the help of volunteers. Once again, they will rise to the next challenge,” said Ms Pritchard.
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The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) said vaccinating these groups was a “precautionary” measure and did not mean there was any current danger to their health.
But because people in these groups are at higher risk of contracting covid-19, have weaker immune systems than other people, and were last vaccinated in September or October 2021, so their protection against vaccines could be declining faster.
“We need to ensure that those most at risk of serious illness from Covid are protected and that spring boosters boost people’s immunity,” said government vaccines minister Maggie Throup.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics published on Friday show that about one in 20 people is infected.
Recent relaxation of restrictions and waning immunity from vaccines are among the factors thought to be contributing to the increase, with BA.2, the highly infectious subvariant of Omicron, now causing the majority of cases.
Hospital cases are also on the rise, but vaccines are still helping to stop many severe cases, experts say.
Meanwhile, the government continues to uphold its Living with Covid strategy, lifting all restrictions in England and putting the blame on vaccinations and personal responsibility.
Government-led research estimates that, since mid-December, some 157,000 booster-dose hospitalizations have been averted, with 32 million booster injections administered since implementation began in September 2021.
The NHS said it is also continuing to offer the first, second and third doses for those who have not yet turned up for their Covid vaccine.
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