Booster vaccines on hold – when YOU could get your Covid top up

Covid: Study on vaccine effectiveness released in UK

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Scheduled to begin next month, the mass revaccination of 32 million over 50s could now take place later in the autumn than planned. The JCVI, an advisory body for the Government, met yesterday to review evidence on booster jabs – but no conclusion over when boosters should be given was made.

Sources have stressed that “nothing is off the table” and their recommendation could take weeks.

Mr Javid said last night: “We are going to have a booster scheme, it will start sometime in September.

“I couldn’t tell you exactly when because before we start it, as people would expect, we need to get the final advice from our group of experts, our independent scientific and medical advisers – the JCVI.

He added: “I’m confident that we can start in September when we will start with the most vulnerable cohorts.”

The extremely clinically vulnerable will still get their third vaccinations next month, the JCVI has confirmed.

These 3.7 million adults will be offered a third dose at the same time they are offered a flu vaccination, ahead of what is expected to be a bad winter for illness in the UK.

Third rounds of vaccines have already been announced for other countries such as the US and Israel and will get underway in the autumn and winter months.

President Joe Biden said yesterday that he and wife Jill Biden will be getting their third dose after American health experts said it was ‘very clear’ that protection wanes over time.

Both countries are experiencing a spike in cases despite high vaccination rates.

A study conducted by Oxford University of 700,000 Brits published online yesterday came to the same conclusion.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows antibody levels may be dropped among the older age groups, who’s vaccinations were delivered in December 2020 and January 2021.

Results showed that two weeks after the second Pfizer dose, people are 85 per cent protected against infection, but this falls to 75 per cent after three months.

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Protection from the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab fell from 68 per cent to 61 per cent.

The news comes as hospitalisations and deaths from coronavirus begin to creep up once more.

Yesterday 113 people were added to the death toll, up more than a fifth on last Thursday.

On August 15, 804 patients were admitted to hospital – up nine percent on the previous Sunday.

When will the over 50s get their booster jab?

Sajid Javid has promised all vulnerable individuals their third dose in September.

However, it remains to be seen if the JCVI will make progress on the decision to revaccinate all over 50s.

Express.co.uk has contacted the Department for Health for comment.

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