UK to provide Covid-19 boosters for vulnerable, people above 50; PM Johnson to set out plan for winter

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that a third dose of the vaccine be given to the priority population six months after the second dose of the vaccine.

With the aim of keeping the spread of the coronavirus in check, especially during the winter season, the UK government on Tuesday recommended booster shots against Covid-19 for vulnerable people and those above the age of 50.

A report published in the medical journal Lancet said that a booster dose was not needed for fully vaccinated individuals. (AP)

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that a third dose of the vaccine be given to the priority population six months after the second dose of the vaccine. “The main aim of the booster programme is to prolong that protection and reduce serious disease as we head towards the colder months,” news agency Reuters quoted Professor Wei Shen Lim, the Covid-19 chair of the JCVI as saying.

However, Prof Lim also clarified that the booster campaign in the UK does not imply that there would be a vaccine needed against the disease every six months. “The advice today does not imply that there will be a recurrent programme of booster doses every six months,” he said.

“I don't think I can say very much about the future booster programmes because we just don't have the data,” he added. He also said that a third dose might extend the protection offered by the vaccine against the disease for longer than the second dose.

Meanwhile, England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam too made similar remarks regarding the booster, saying that the third doses would be used to keep the pressure of the National Health Service (NHS) during the winter. “The booster programme will make a very substantial impact on keeping the lid on things Covid wise in terms of hospitalisations and deaths and keeping pressure off the NHS (National Health Service) this winter,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

The comments from the experts came even as Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to brief his government’s strategy for the winter in a media conference later on Tuesday, during which he is expected to warn the public that the fight against the pandemic was not over.

“The booster programme will make a very substantial impact on keeping the lid on things COVID wise in terms of hospitalisations and deaths and keeping pressure off the NHS (National Health Service) this winter,” a statement from Johnson’s office said. “Today I will set out a clear plan for the autumn and winter, when the virus has a natural advantage, to protect the gains we have made,” he added.

The UK would join France, Germany and the Netherlands among other European nations in administering the booster doses to its citizens.

While many western nations, including the US, have made clear their plans for booster doses, several experts of the World Health Organization (WHO) including the body’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus have expressed their concerns over vaccine distribution.

The WHO chief has even sought a moratorium on boosters globally at least until the end of this year for poor nations to immunise their population. Supporting the WHO’s concerns, a report published in the medical journal Lancet, co-authored by WHO’s chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan, said that a booster dose was not needed for fully vaccinated individuals as they continue to be protected against hospitalisation and death by the vaccines.

(With inputs from Reuters)