Health secretary Sajid Javid said he is confident a Covid-19 jab booster campaign can start next month, despite a report that experts want more time to consider whether they are needed.
NHS plans are in place to roll out third doses of the vaccine from 6 September for people who might really need another jab but no official decision has been taken yet. We are going to have a booster scheme, it will start sometime in September, Mr Javid told reporters on a visit to open a hospital in Carlisle on Thursday.
The health secretary said: 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: We’re waiting for their final opinion and, looking at everything and the timing of that, I’m confident that we can start in September when we will start with the most vulnerable cohorts and start offering that third jab.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) met on Thursday, and had been expected to discuss the potential for boosters for vulnerable people who might need another jab.
Asked about a booster campaign, Prof Finn told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the committee will be imminently deciding that there will be some people who will need a third dose. The JCVI expert added: But I think we do need more evidence before we can make a firm decision on a much broader booster programme.
His comments on a wider rollout were echoed by another government adviser, Professor Peter Openshaw, who said further evidence is needed on any benefits that a third dose might bring with trial results on booster jabs expected soon. Campaigners have urged the government to bring forward booster jabs for the clinically extremely vulnerable as soon as possible.
Helen Rowntree, the head of research at Blood Cancer UK, said: If this research shows a third dose does improve immune responses in people with blood cancer, it is vital that the government then rolls out booster jabs to this group with urgency.
A further 113 people had died after testing positive for Covid-19, and there were a further 36,572 lab-confirmed cases of the virus in the UK, the government said on Thursday.