U.K. Expands Covid-19 Booster Program to Younger People
The U.K. is expanding its Covid-19 booster program to younger people to ward off a wave of infections in winter.
(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. is expanding its Covid-19 booster program to younger people as the country seeks to head off another wave of infections this winter.
A third vaccine dose will be available to people aged 40 to 49 starting six months after their second shot, the government said Monday. Previously, only those over 50 and other vulnerable groups were eligible. So far, more than 12 million people have received a booster.
The government is also recommending a second shot of the Pfizer Inc.-BioNTech SE vaccine for 16 and 17-year-olds. That inoculation will be given at least 12 weeks after the initial dose or a Covid infection, whichever is later.
The new measures mark a significant expansion in Britain’s action plan, which is focused on booster vaccinations, flu shots and the test-and-trace system. The country has been battling a Covid resurgence for months, fueled by the delta variant and increasing infection levels among children and younger adults. Scientists hope that giving boosters to more people will lower transmission rates.
“If the booster program is successful with very high uptake we can massively reduce the numbers of hospitalizations and deaths over Christmas and the rest of the winter,” said Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, in a televised press conference. “It’s really as simple and decisive as that.”
Adults will receive a third dose of either Pfizer’s or Moderna Inc.’s vaccine, which both rely on messenger RNA technology. Van-Tam said U.K. data so far showed that adults over 60 who got a booster from either drugmaker have achieved protection “well in excess of 90% regardless of which vaccine they had initially.”
The Moderna booster will consist of half the dose given in the initial inoculation, which should provide strong protection while reducing side effects, the government said.
For those aged 16 and 17, the government had previously recommended one dose because side effects involving heart inflammation were shown to be higher after the second shot. However, U.K. scientific advisers said the recommended longer interval between doses should reduce the risk to levels seen after the first shot.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the public to take up the offer of booster jabs during a visit to a medical center in Newham, East London on Monday. He said boosters will help people’s immunity go “right back up to 95%” and “make all the difference to winter, to Christmas, to our plans going forward, because it’s that extra level of protection that we really need.”
He also warned that the people ending up in intensive care with coronavirus are still mostly “the unvaccinated.”
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the government, will review whether the booster program should be extended to all people under 40, Health Secretary Sajid Javid said in a statement.
Javid has previously warned that if the National Health Service risks being overwhelmed by cases, the government will implement several contingency measures. They include mandatory vaccine certification in certain venues, legally requiring face coverings in some settings and asking people to work from home if they can.
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