In its interim advice to government on the coronavirus (COVID-19)
vaccination programme for 2023, the Joint Committee on
Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)
has advised that plans should be made for those at higher risk of
severe COVID-19 to be offered a booster vaccination this autumn
(2023).
The JCVI
also advised that for a smaller group of people, such as those
who are older and those who are immunosuppressed, an extra
booster vaccine dose in the spring should also be planned for.
Advice regarding the spring 2023 COVID-19 programme will be
provided shortly.
Emergency surge vaccine responses may be required should a novel
variant of concern emerge with clinically significant biological
differences compared to the Omicron variant.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, Chair of COVID-19 vaccination on the
JCVI,
said:
The COVID-19 vaccination programme continues to reduce severe
disease across the population, while helping to protect the NHS.
That is why we have advised planning for further booster vaccines
for persons at higher risk of serious illness through an autumn
booster programme later this year.
We will very shortly also provide final advice on a spring
booster programme for those at greatest risk.
The 2022 COVID-19 autumn booster vaccination campaign commenced
in early September last year. The most recent coverage data (15
January 2023) of the autumn booster programme in those aged 50
years and over is 64.5% and 82.4% in those aged 75 years and
over. By the end of summer 2022, the coverage of the 2022 spring
booster programme was 77.3% in those aged 75 years and over.
Following high uptake rates for the initial (third) booster dose
of COVID-19 vaccine in December 2021, further uptake has been low
at less than 0.1% per week since April 2022 in all eligible
people under 50 years of age.
Similarly, uptake of primary course vaccination, which has been
widely available since 2021, has plateaued in recent months
across all age groups.
As the transition continues away from a pandemic emergency
response towards pandemic recovery, the JCVI has
advised that the 2021 booster offer (third dose) for persons aged
16 to 49 years who are not in a clinical risk group should close
in alignment with the close of the autumn 2022 booster
vaccination campaign.
In England, the closure of the autumn booster campaign and the
first booster offer will be on 12 February 2023. We strongly
encourage everyone who is currently eligible for a first booster
and is yet to come forward to do so before the offer closes.
Similarly, the JCVI is
advising that the primary course COVID-19 vaccination should
move, over the course of 2023, towards a more targeted offer
during vaccination campaigns to protect those persons at higher
risk of severe COVID-19. We strongly encourage individuals who
have not had a primary course to come forward for their primary
course before the offer closes.
The JCVI
keeps all advice under constant review and will revise it
according to the latest data and evidence.
In its 2023 statement, the JCVI
also advises that research should be considered to inform the
optimal timing of booster vaccinations to protect against severe
COVID-19 for groups who are at different levels of clinical risk.
