Fourth jabs for hundreds of thousands next week as Covid infections rise

Care home residents and the over-75s are among the cohort to be invited for their spring booster

FOURTH jabs will be offered to hundreds of thousands of people next week, the NHS has announced after criticism of a sluggish rollout.

Today’s announcement confirms reports in The Telegraph earlier this week that health chiefs are finally set to launch the next stage of the Covid vaccine plan.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) last month gave the green light for another dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine to be given to care home residents, over75s and immunosuppressed people over 12 years old if their last vaccine was around six months ago. This is a cohort of roughly five million people, and the NHS will now begin the process of vaccinating as many of them as possible.

It will start by inviting around 600,000 people who are currently eligible to come forward for their spring booster next week. Maggie Throup, the vaccines minister, said: “The NHS will contact you when it’s your turn – please take up the offer as soon as you can.”

Amanda Pritchard, the NHS chief executive, added that “there is no need to contact the NHS”, as they will be in touch with eligible individuals directly.

Waning protection is one of the reasons thought to be behind the recent uptick in infections, hospitalisations and deaths. Around 2.6 million people in England are likely currently infected with Covid, the ONS estimates.

Prof James Naismith, of Oxford University, said: “My main concern is for the vulnerable, for whom this disease is serious, and for those whose lives will be blighted by long Covid.

“Every effort must be made to triple vaccinate as many people as possible, quadruple vaccinate the most vulnerable and make available antivirals.”

Speaking on stage at the Conservative Spring Conference in Blackpool yesterday, Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, praised the public’s uptake of the vaccines so far, saying people wanted to regain control of their lives and that they were “fed up of being told what to do”.

There are currently no plans to widen the scope of the fourth jabs to include younger people and the JCVI would have to update their guidance for this to happen.

Ms Pritchard said in a statement: “The NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme has not stopped in its efforts to protect people from coronavirus – around five million of the most vulnerable people will be eligible for a spring dose and from tomorrow we will start giving eligible groups their additional top up in protection.

“We have protected millions of people at speed thanks to the efforts of our staff, aided by volunteers. They will once again rise to the next challenge.”