Autumn COVID-19 booster programme announced

This week , the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JVCI) announced details of the autumn COVID-19 booster programme.

People at greatest risk of serious illness from COVID-19, eligible for the autumn vaccine booster, include:

• residents in care homes for older adults
• all adults aged 65 years and over
• people aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group, as defined in tables 3 and 4 of the Covid-19 chapter of the UKHSA Green Book on Immunisation
• frontline health and social care workers.
• people aged 12 to 64 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression, as defined in the UKHSA Green Book
• people aged 16 to 64 years who are carers, as defined in the UKHSA Green Book, and staff working in care homes for older adults

The risk of severe COVID-19 continues to be strongly associated with increasing age and underlying health conditions.

NHS England will confirm details of how and when eligible people can access the autumn booster vaccine soon, although the JCVI has advised that the autumn programme should aim to complete vaccinations by early December 2023.

Vaccines help to protect against severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths from coronavirus. Last year’s autumn booster programme saw almost 84 per cent of over-80s vaccinated and more than 73 per cent of 65 to 70-year-olds, protecting the most vulnerable and helping us to live with COVID-19.