XMAS BOOST
When will YOU be eligible for your Covid booster jab – as Boris outlines NHS plan
ALL adults will be offered a booster Covid vaccine by the end of January, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged.
The NHS will be inviting people to come forward once three months have passed since the second Covid jab dose.
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The ambitious targets come amid spread of the deeply worrying Omicron variant, which was first spotted in South Africa and has now been confirmed 22 times in the UK.
Its mutations give it the potential to weaken vaccines and it could be faster-spreading than Delta.
The PM told a Downing Street briefing today that if you get your top-up shot, “your response will be stronger”, with evidence showing it goes up to 93 per cent against Delta.
He said everyone will be offered a jab “by the end of January”, working in age descending order.
With the gap between second and booster doses shortened, some 6.9 million over 40s are newly eligible.
After everyone in their 40s has been invited, those over the age of 35 will be be next up, moving through the five-year age bands to those aged 18 years old last.
People become eligible once three months has passed since their second dose - half the previous six-month criteria.
In total, 53 million will be invited for a booster, up from the original 30 million most vulnerable set in September.
The NHS will limit first access to older groups and prioritise the vulnerable, to make sure they have had an extra shot of Moderna or Pfizer, before contacting younger Brits to make an appointment.
And the public are being told not to contact the NHS, but wait for their invite.
Mr Johnson said: “So, even if you have had your second jab over three months ago and you are now eligible, please don’t try and book until the NHS says it is your turn.”
The PM said we are “throwing everything at it” to increase NHS capacity to give millions of people another vaccine dose.
Speaking from No10, he said: “There’ll be temporary vaccination centres popping up like Christmas trees and we’ll deploy at least 400 military personnel to assist the efforts of our NHS, alongside of course the fantastic jabs army of volunteers.
“We’ve already done almost 18 million boosters across the UK but we’ve got millions more to do to protect the most vulnerable.
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“Then we’ll move down the cohorts rapidly, and working together with the devolved administrations we want to ramp up capacity across the whole United Kingdom to the levels we achieved in the previous vaccination effort.
“We’re going to be throwing everything at it in order to ensure that everyone eligible is offered that booster, as I say, in just over two months.”
🔵 Read our Omicron variant live blog for the latest news
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, said staff are working at “breakneck speed” to expand the booster jab rollout.
It comes after the JCVI, the expert vaccine panel, yesterday recommended that all adults get a booster dose in response to the Omicron variant.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid, also at today's briefing, said people should get vaccinated to “give ourselves the best chance of a Christmas with our loved ones”.
He said: “What we’re seeing recently has brought back memories of the strain of the last winter.
"But although we can’t say with certainty what lies ahead, we have one huge advantage that we didn’t have back then: our vaccination programme, which has already done so much to keep this virus at bay.
“But these defences will only keep us safe if we use them. This is a national mission and we all have a role to play.
“If we want to give ourselves the best chance of a Christmas with our loved ones, the best thing we can all do is step up, roll up our sleeves, and get protected when the time comes.”
Millions of Brits will get their Covid booster jab early in a bid to turbo-charge the nation’s immunity.
An extra 13 million over-18s will become eligible for a third shot before the end of the year.
Experts hope cutting the gap between the second and third doses of the jab from six to three months will allow the UK to get ahead of the new Covid variant.
Kids aged 12 to 15 will also be offered a second dose of the vaccine, in an attempt to shore up the nation’s immunity in the face of the worrying new strain.
Severely immunosuppressed patients who were given three vaccine doses will also be offered a fourth booster dose.
Ministers have pledged to remain on the “front foot” in the fight against the terrifying new Omicron variant.
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam described the variant as the "new kid on the block", warning scientists from around the world have been left concerned.
He told the nation at a Downing Street briefing on Monday: "It's always been the case that at some point, we’ll get a variant that gives us heightened concern.
"We are at that moment with Omicron."
The expert said, however, that while more data is needed, it is hoped while the variant appears to be able to cause more infections it won't cause more severe illness.
He admitted the mutations in Omicron - more than 30 - are worrying, with some unseen before.
But he said the rampaging variant in South Africa, which is seeing the majority of cases, doesn't appear to be sending more people to hospital at the moment.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of the JCVI, said while it doesn't mean they anticipate a Covid wave is coming to the UK, allowing over-18s to have boosters will prime the nation to better tackle one.
He said: "Having a booster dose of the vaccine will help to increase our level of protection against the Omicron variant.
"This is an important way for us to reduce the impact of this variant on our lives, especially in the coming months."
Dr June Raine, MHRA Chief Executive, backed the recommendation to rollout the boosters to people over-18.
She said: “Our safety monitoring to date shows that Covid-19 vaccines continue to have a positive safety profile for the majority of people.
"We ensure all suspected reports are carefully followed up. When you are called for your booster dose, you can come forward confident that the benefits in preventing serious Covid-19 far outweigh any risks.”
She added it was "very likely" an assessment of whether to approve the Pfizer jab for children as young as five would be concluded before Christmas.
"The logic for maybe changing the gap... this variant the Omicron variant is now present in the world, it hasn't reached the UK in high numbers, and if possible it will be good to boost a lot of people's antibody levels to high levels to give them the maximum chance of not getting infected with this new variant.”
Ministers and scientists are scrambling to work out how contagious and dangerous Omicron is.
However, one doctor in South Africa has claimed that the variant does not cause loss of taste or smell but has "unusual" and "mild" symptoms - including intense fatigue and high heart rate.
Meanwhile, the PM announced at the weekend that new restrictions would be imposed in a bid to keep the lid on the new mutant variant.
MPs will vote on the new restrictions, including mandatory face masks on public transport and in shops, within 28 days after the legislation is placed before the Commons today.
Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told BBC Breakfast this morning there were two strategies to deal with the variant.
"Either we raise the immunity in the population or we find a matched vaccine," he said.
The expert warned if Omicron has vaccine escape and "turns out to have a transmission advantage, then it would be sensible to have a new vaccine".
Prof Van-Tam praised the Sun's Jabs Army, which has relaunched to get more vaccines in arms, saying: "We were very grateful to your army of volunteers for the help they gave."
The Sun issued a fresh call for volunteers after the announcement that the booster shot could be offered sooner.
We need 25,000 NHS volunteer responders to help out at hundreds of vaccination centres UK-wide.
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And with scientists urging anyone eligible for a booster to get one by December 11 and under 18s being considered for second vaccinations, our Jabs Army needs you.
Volunteers are needed all over England but there are 20 areas that are desperate for support now.
JVT's latest football Covid analogy:
"We started with 11 players on the team with Wuhan, then picked up a couple of injuries when Alpha and Delta came alone.
"We've had to use our subs to keep us in the game. But we are well in the game, you can see the vaccines are holding us up well and keeping us out of trouble
"Omicron is giving yellow cards. We may be ok, but we are fearing we'll come down to 10 players.
"If that's a risk, we need everyone on the pitch to up their game in the meantime.
"We won't wait for the red card, we’ll act decisively now. We are asking everyone to play their part in the urgency of the booster programme."
Boris Johnson says 'there's no doubt at all' everyone can rise to the challenge and increase the vaccine rollout to tackle the Omicron variant
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