Around seven million people in Britain are to be offered a fourth COVID booster shot in spring, Britain’s Health Secretary has confirmed.
Vulnerable adults and those over the age of 75 are to be offered an additional booster vaccination against the Chinese coronavirus in spring, according to the country’s health secretary, Sajid Javid.
For some of the around seven million people who will fall into one or more of these categories, it will be the fourth COVID jab they have been encouraged to take.
According to a report by Sky News, the United Kingdom’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has justified the measure by arguing it will keep the nation’s level of protection against the disease high.
“Last year’s booster vaccination programme has so far provided excellent protection against severe COVID-19,” said Professor Wei Shen Lim, who is chairman of the JCVI’s COVID vaccination committee.
“To maintain high levels of protection for the most vulnerable individuals in the population, an extra spring dose of vaccine is advised ahead of an expected autumn booster programme later this year,” he added.
Also reported by the news outlet is that those over the age of 18 will be offered either Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech jabs, with those between 12 and 17 only to receive Pfizer/BioNTech doses.
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Britain is far from the first country to move towards a fourth COVID shot.
Israel has been administering fourth doses of the vaccine since last December, and, as of January 25th, has been mulling whether to recommend all over-18s receive an additional dose.
Meanwhile, Sweden has also recommended that those over the age of 80 get another shot, as well as those in nursing homes or receiving home care.
However, despite the actions of both of these countries, the chair of the JCVI, Sir Andrew Pollard, has warned that future booster programs will need to be limited to the people who most require extra shots.
“We can’t vaccinate the planet every four to six months. It’s not sustainable or affordable,” Pollard is reported to have said. “In the future, we need to target the vulnerable.”
“At some point, society has to open up. When we do open, there will be a period with a bump in infections,” he continued. “But that’s a decision for the policymakers, not the scientists.”
Pollard is not alone in the view that Britain must open up, with Boris Johnson’s government moving to end all of England’s remaining COVID restrictions this week.
“[W]e need to learn to live with this virus,” Johnson is reported as saying, though noting that “Covid will not suddenly disappear”.
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