BOOSTERS FOR OVER-40s
Call to reopen mass vaccine centres to speed sluggish programme
SCOTS aged 40-49 will be offered Covid-19 booster jabs, sparking calls for the reopening of mass vaccination centres to cope with demand.
The Scottish Government announced the extended rollout yesterday, following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
The committee also approved second doses for 16 and 17-year-olds. It said broadening the booster campaign would ‘help extend our protection into 2022’.
But there are concerns about pressure on the vaccine delivery programme after a sluggish start to the boosters. With winter looming and the NHS under huge pressure, critics warn the pace of the rollout must increase immediately.
As of yesterday, third dose coverage stood at 78.9 per cent for Scotland’s over-80s. But that compares with only 36.8 per cent of those aged 60-64 and 13.1 per cent for those aged 50-54, who have only recently become eligible for boosters.
Now a further 668,000 aged 40-49 must be added to the booster system.
Scottish Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane urged the Scottish Government to reopen mass vaccination centres which have been scaled back in favour of local clinics and mobile units offering a mix of appointments
‘Entering winter with worrying levels of Covid’
and drop-in facilities. A mass clinic at the SSE Hydro, in Glasgow, closed in July, and the EICC Edinburgh and the P&J Live in Aberdeen both shut in September.
Dr Gulhane said: ‘It’s vital that the Government does everything in its power to make sure as many jags as possible are delivered before Christmas. The booster jag rollout could be going much faster if we had mass clinics operating again.
‘Vaccination centres were incredibly effective at delivering the first and second jags, so why would we not use them to deliver boosters?
‘To halt the spread of Covid, the Government’s first step should be reopening mass vaccination centres, instead of considering introducing more stringent restrictions that would damage jobs, businesses and people’s mental health.’
The JCVI advice was accepted by ministers across the UK.
It came as new research highlighted how boosters can significantly increase people’s protection from Covid-19.
Two weeks after their booster, those aged over 50 had at least 93 per cent reduced risk of getting a symptomatic case of Covid, according to the UK Health Security Agency study. Protection against more severe illness and death is expected to be even higher.
The JCVI said people should be offered the Pfizer or Moderna jab as a booster, irrespective of which vaccine they had initially.
Around one third of UK local authority areas are currently recording a rise in Covid rates.
Scotland’s weekly rate stands at 375.7 per 100,000 people, up from 334.7 last week, and the highest seven-day rate of new cases since September 26.
Most local authority areas in Scotland are seeing an increase in rates, with only six out of 32 areas currently seeing a fall. Areas seeing a sharp increase include Moray (up from 318.7 to 501.5), Perth & Kinross (306.8 to 479.2) and Dumfries & Galloway (394.5 to 529.4).
The Orkney Islands have the highest local rate in the UK, with 696.4 per 100,000, though this is based on 156 new cases in the most recent seven days.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie said last night: ‘We are entering winter with worryingly high levels of Covid-19 and with hundreds of thousands of eligible people still waiting on their booster vaccine.
‘If we are to avoid serious consequences this winter then the SNP Government must be willing to take meaningful action now.’
Announcing the JCVI’s decision to widen the programme, its chair of Covid-19 immunisation Professor Wei Shen Lim said: ‘The booster dose markedly strengthens existing protection and will extend the duration of that protection against serious disease.’
Scotland’s chief medical officer, Dr Gregor Smith, said: ‘The JCVI has advised that people aged 40-49 will now be eligible for a Covid-19 booster. These will be offered once
the earlier agreed priority groups have had their Covid booster injections to ensure that the most vulnerable groups are offered protection first.
‘The 40 to 49-year-old group will soon be able to book their own appointments through the NHS online portal, which is now live for 50 to 59-year-olds.
‘Young people aged 16 and 17years-old are now eligible for a second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine following the most recent JCVI advice.’
Yesterday, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: ‘I’m meeting with the vaccine team later on this afternoon and we will be talking about how we operationalise that advice [for those aged 50 to 59] and also the advice on 16 to 17-year-olds the JCVI have provided.’
He added: ‘Remember there is a huge, significant number of those 40 to 49-year-olds who will not be eligible for the booster yet, because they have to wait six months until their second dose. I think the vast majority of them become eligible early next year.’