15th September 2021
The government has announced that a third Covid-19 ‘booster vaccine’ will begin to be offered across the UK, as part of an autumn and winter plan for managing Covid-19 in England. This follows a recommendation from the government’s vaccine advisers, the JCVI, who said about 30m people should be offered a third dose.
They said the booster should be given at least six months after a person had their second vaccine dose, with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab currently recommended for the booster.
Those eligible for a booster jab currently include:
- Those living in residential care homes for older adults
- All adults aged 50 years or over
- Frontline health and social care workers
- All those aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19
- Adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals
More information can be found in the government’s Covid-19 Autumn and Winter Plan. You can also visit our page on The Covid-19 Vaccine and Arthritis, where our medical advisor and consultant rheumatologist Dr Wendy Holden answers your questions about the COVID-19 vaccine for people living with arthritis.