Winter booster vaccines will be offered to people who are at a higher risk from Covid-19 including all adults aged 50 and over.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has confirmed its final recommendations for who should get another Coronavirus jab over autmn and winter 2022-2023.
Unlike the earlier coronavirus vaccination courses, the winter boosters will not be routinely offered to every adult in the UK. People aged under 50 will not be offered a jab unless they are part of a vulnerable group or at a higher risk.
This winter's vaccination programme will also see free flu jabs offered to more groups, including middle-aged adults and secondary school children.
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Professor Anthony Harnden, Deputy Chair of the JCVI, said: "We have provided our final recommendations for the autumn programme to ensure the NHS and wider health system has time to plan a vaccine rollout well ahead of the winter season.
"The Covid-19 boosters are highly effective at increasing immunity and, by offering a further dose to those at higher risk of severe illness this autumn, we hope to significantly reduce the risk of hospitalisations and deaths over the winter."
Who will be offered Covid-19 winter booster in 2022?
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says that under the JCVI's advice, the following groups will be offered a winter Covid-19 booster jab in late 2022 or early 2023.
- all adults aged 50 years and over
- those aged 5 to 49 years in a clinical risk group, including pregnant women
- those aged 5 to 49 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression
- those aged 16 to 49 years who are carers
- residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for older adults
- frontline health and social care workers
The free flu vaccine programme will also be expanded to all adults aged 50 to 64 and secondary school children in years 7,8 and 9. "These additional groups will only be eligible once the most vulnerable, including previously announced pre-school and primary school children, those aged 65 years and over and those in clinical risk groups, have been offered the jab," adds the UKHSA and JCVI.
Those eligible will be contacted by the NHS. Scotland's has followed the JVCI recommendations and is expected to start contacting people shortly. The NHS in England and Wales will announce in "due course" when their programmes will start.
The UKHSA adds: "The NHS will announce in due course when and how eligible groups will be able to book an appointment for their COVID-19 autumn booster, and when people aged 50 to 64 years old who are not in a clinical risk group will be able to get their free flu jab.
"People in these groups are asked not to come forward until further information is announced."
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