COVID booster: Are you eligible for a jab this year?
More than 12 million people in the UK will miss out on a coronavirus vaccine this winter as the numbers being offered a booster jab have been scaled back.
A COVID-19 booster will not be offered to healthy people under the age of 65 this winter, health officials said on Tuesday.
Last year, the autumn booster jab was offered to people aged 50 and over, but the eligibility has been tightened this time round.
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It means about 12 million people aged 50 to 64 will not be offered a booster ahead of this winter.
The vaccine will only be offered to over-65s, health and care workers and people living with certain health conditions.
The same rule has also been put in place for flu jabs, which were previously available to people aged over 50 but are now only open to over 65s.
The advice comes from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
Who is eligible for a COVID-19 booster this autumn?
All adults aged 65 and over
Care home residents
Those aged six months to 64 years in a "clinical risk group", with illnesses including severe asthma, diabetes and a number of chronic illnesses
Frontline health and social care workers
People who are immunosuppressed – either through illness or treatment for cancer – and their household contacts aged 12 and over
Those aged over 16 who are carers
How can I find out if I am eligible for a COVID booster jab this year?
Go to Gov.uk for the full list of those eligible, which includes the Immunisation Green Book that lays out clinical risk groups.
What are the new COVID variants?
The new Eris strain of coronavirus is a variant of Omicron.
It was first classified as a variant in the UK on 31 July.
The Zoe Health Study app estimates there were 67,459 new symptomatic cases of COVID in the UK on 6 August.
It estimates that about 819,400 people in the UK currently have symptomatic coronavirus.
The most common symptoms of the Eris strain include a sore throat, runny nose, blocked nose, sneezing and a dry cough.
Why are fewer people being offered a booster jab this autumn?
Health officials said that the larger group was offered the booster jab last year as part of the “emergency response” to the pandemic and that its success has allowed the number to be scaled back.
The COVID-19 jab is not available privately in the UK, so those who were offered the vaccine last year and are not eligible this year will not be able to purchase the jab themselves.
Adults who have yet to receive a COVID vaccine will be eligible to get a single jab during the booster campaign.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, chairman of COVID-19 immunisation at the JCVI, said: “The autumn booster programme will continue to focus on those at greatest risk of getting seriously ill.
“It is important that everyone who is eligible takes up a booster this autumn – helping to prevent them from hospitalisations and deaths arising from the virus over the winter months.”
Dr Mary Ramsay, director of public health programmes at UKHSA, said: “The COVID-19 virus has not gone away and we expect to see it circulating more widely over the winter months, with the numbers of people getting ill increasing.
“The booster is being offered to those at higher risk of severe illness and by taking up the booster vaccine this autumn – you will increase your protection ahead of winter, when respiratory viruses are typically at their peak.”
What has the government said about autumn boosters?
Health secretary Steve Barclay said he had accepted the JCVI advice for the booster programme in England, adding: “NHS England will confirm details on how and when eligible people can access the autumn booster vaccine shortly, and I would urge anyone invited – including those yet to have their first jab – to come forward as soon as possible.”
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