Sajid Javid announces plan to give over-75s spring Covid jab

Sajid Javid has announced that over-75s will be offered a Covid-19 booster vaccine this spring.

The Health Secretary said the top-up jab would help those at the highest risk of serious Covid maintain a high level of protection against the virus.

The NHS in England will offer people the jab from around six months after their last dose, with further details due to be set out.

Mr Javid said: “Thanks to our COVID-19 vaccination rollout, we are already the freest country in Europe. It has saved countless lives, reduced pressure on the NHS and is allowing us to learn to live with the virus.

“Today I have accepted the advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to offer, from spring, an additional Covid-19 booster jab to people aged 75 years and over, residents in care homes for older adults, and people aged 12 years and over who are immunosuppressed. All four parts of the UK intend to follow the JCVI’s advice.

“Following the JCVI’s advice, I have asked the NHS to prepare to offer those eligible a vaccine from around six months after their last dose and they will set out further details in due course.

“We know immunity to Covid-19 begins to wane over time. That’s why we’re offering a spring booster to those people at higher risk of serious Covid-19 to make sure they maintain a high level of protection. It’s important that everyone gets their top-up jabs as soon as they’re eligible.

“The JCVI will keep under review whether the booster programme should be extended to further at-risk groups.

“This is a national mission – the vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones and I urge everybody to get your jabs as soon as you can. For anyone who is yet to get a booster, come forward to Get Boosted Now."

The vaccines used in the spring programme will be the 50mcg Moderna vaccine or 30mcg Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for adults aged 18 and over.

Around one in 20 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to February 12, or 2.4 million people, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

This is down from one in 19, or 2.8 million people, in the week to February 5.

Infections are still higher than they were before Christmas, when the estimate stood at one in 25, or two million people.

But levels have fallen since the peak of the Omicron wave at the start of the year, when a record one in 15 in England had Covid-19 – the equivalent of 3.7 million people.