Booster programme gets green light

14 September 2021 Steve Brown

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The roll-out of the booster programme will start next week and, following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), will use the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. The programme will be delivered using a combination of mass vaccination centres and primary care.Sajid Javid

As with the primary vaccination courses, the boosters will be offered to the nine priority groups identified by the JCVI, including: those living in care homes for older adults; all adults aged 50 and over; health and social care workers; anyone aged 16 to 49 with an underlying health condition; and adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals. The government has also accepted the chief medical officers’ recommendation to offer a single dose of the vaccine to 12-15 year-olds.

Health and social care secretary Sajid Javid (pictured) said the boosters, extended vaccine programme and anti-viral treatments formed one of five pillars in the plan. The other components are: continued testing, tracing and self-isolation; supporting health and social care; encouraging people to protect themselves against seasonal illnesses; and supporting global efforts on vaccines and diagnostics, while managing risks at the border.

He highlighted last week’s announcement of an extra £5.4bn for the NHS over the next six months, including £1bn to help tackle the elective backlog. The Covid-19 response: autumn and winter plan added that the extra funding brought the government’s total investment in health services for Covid-19 for 2021/22 to over £34bn so far, with £2bn in total for the elective backlog.

Mr Javid also suggested that the government was moving towards making vaccination a condition of deployment for frontline care staff – a proposal currently out for consultation.

‘Although we are keeping an open mind, and won’t be making a final decision until we have fully considered the results of the consultation, I believe it is highly likely that frontline NHS staff and those working in wider social care settings will also have to be vaccinated to protect those around them,’ he said. He added that this would be ‘an important step in protecting those at greatest risk’.

The JCVI recommendation is for a booster jab to be given to the priority groups no earlier than six months after the administration of a second dose. mRNA vaccines will primarily be used in the programme with the JCVI expressing a preference for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or, alternatively, a half dose of the Moderna vaccine. However, where mRNA vaccines cannot be offered, for example because of a contraindication, the committee said the AstraZeneca vaccine could be considered.

Wei Shen Lim, chair of the JCVI, said the recommendation did not imply that there will be a recurrent programme of booster jabs every six months, nor that under 50s would subsequently need a booster jab. The recommended six-month interval between second dose and booster would move most under-50-year-olds beyond the difficult winter months.

The government has also drawn up contingency plans if the NHS starts to come under unsustainable pressure, despite its proposals. Its plan B could involve supporting the public to ‘follow safer behaviours’, requiring mandatory vaccine-only certification in certain settings and legally mandating face masks in some places.

NHS Providers welcomed the ‘pragmatic’ plan to keep a wider range of Covid-19 measures under close review if cases spike in the coming months. ‘The array of challenges facing the NHS as we head into autumn and winter is daunting,’ said deputy chief executive Saffron Cordery. Waiting lists are at record levels, while bed capacity is down and demand for urgent and emergency care is up above pre-pandemic levels, even before usual winter pressures kick in.

‘Alongside these pressures, trusts will now need to factor in the rapid rollout of jabs for 12-15 year olds and booster jabs,’ she added.