Covid boosters rolled out from today as new variant infections escalate

A new strain of the virus has forced booster vaccinations to be delivered faster than planned as more care home residents have become infected.

Today it has been announced that people who are considered ‘high risk’ to Covid-19 will be able to receive their latest booster vaccine, beginning with care home residents.

Last month it was reported people over the age of 65 and those with underlying health issues would be eligible to receive a booster jab this autumn, but the rollout has begun earlier than planned as the new strain of Covid-19, known as BA.2.86, is quickly spreading.

Currently, there have been 34 confirmed cases of the new strain in England – 28 of which occurred in a Norfolk care home outbreak.

Although it is too early to know if BA.2.86 is more deadly than other variants – the World Health Organisation have declared it a strain of interest – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have also brought forward the booster rollout to the beginning of September.

Professor Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at the UK Health security agency (UKHSA) told BBC Breakfast: ‘We’re seeing a new variant circulating that we are worried may invade the immune system more than variants that have been circling in the past, and therefore we want to boost the immunity of those people most at risk of severe infection.’

However, on a more positive note, the chief Ms Hopkins has claimed the majority of people will have some form of immunity from previous infections or vaccinations.

As it stands, several vaccinations are being used across the UK to provide booster top-ups, including ones made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Sanofi/GSK.

People who are eligible for the vaccine include:

• Residents in care homes for older adults
• All adults aged 65 and over 
• People aged six months to 64 in a clinical risk group
• Frontline health and social care workers
• People aged 12 to 64 who are household contacts of people with weakened immune systems 
• People aged 16 to 64 who are carers and/or staff working in adult care homes

The NHS will contact people who can have the vaccine. Following this, people in England will be able to book their jabs through the NHS website, app or by calling 119 from 18^th September.

Image: Mufid Majnun

More on this topic:

Winter Covid-19 vaccines scrapped for under 65s

WHO declares new Covid-19 strain of interest as cases rise globally