All adults will be now be offered a COVID-19 booster vaccine as the Government attempts to counter the arrival of the Omicron Covid variant
The Health Secretary described the move as a “huge step up” for the vaccine programme, almost doubling the number who will be able to get a booster dose.
“The NHS will be calling people forward at the appropriate time so that those who are most vulnerable will be prioritised.”
He said “in the coming days” he will set out more details on how the advice is being put into action.
The JCVI is now advising that all adults aged 18 to 39 should be offered a booster dose, in order of descending age groups, to increase their level of protection. Those aged 40 and over are already eligible for a booster vaccine.
Booster doses should be given no sooner than three months after people have had their second dose of an original vaccine – shaving three months off the current six-month wait, according to the JCVI.
The committee also recommended giving a second jab to children aged between 12 and 15 years old – again after no less than three months and that severely immunosuppressed people given access to another booster – meaning for some, a fourth dose this winter.
The deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van Tam told the country that previous coronavirus variants had been like suffering team injuries during a game. Omicron is “now like picking up a couple of yellow cards to key players on top”, he said. This means we need everyone on the pitch to “up their game” and get a booster jab.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said that his earlier meeting with health ministers of leading G7 countries saw praise for how South Africa has handled the emergence of the Omicron variant.
And it saw support for swift and decisive measures to hand the new variant while scientists race to develop more knowledge about it.
“Covid-19 is not going away, so we have to keep seeing new variants emerge,” he says, adding that “we have to follow the evidence” when it comes to new variants.
Six more cases of the Omicron Covid variant have been detected in the UK.All six were in Scotland, four in Lanarkshire and two in the Greater Glasgow area.
Some of the cases in Scotland are thought to have no known travel history, suggesting they could have been transmitted within the country.
From 4 a.m. on Tuesday in England, face coverings will be mandatory in shops, banks, post offices and other settings including hairdressers
All travellers arriving into the U.K. will be required to take a PCR test on or before Day 2 of their arrival. They will also have to self-isolate until they have received a negative test result.
The omicron variant is likely to spread internationally, posing a “very high” global risk where Covid-19 surges could have “severe consequences” in some areas, the World Health Organisation said on Monday.
The UN agency, in technical advice to its 194 member states, urged them to accelerate vaccination of high-priority groups and to “ensure mitigation plans are in place” to maintain essential health services.
“Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic,” the WHO said. “The overall global risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron is assessed as very high.
