Covid: UK vaccine booster scheme likely to start in September - Sajid Javid

A UK Covid vaccine booster scheme will take place and is likely to start next month, the health secretary has said.

Sajid Javid said he was uncertain of the exact start date as the government was waiting for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's "final advice" before proceeding.

Mr Javid added the "most vulnerable" would be offered the third jab first.

However, it remains unclear whether the booster scheme would be for all adults, or just some, more vulnerable groups.

Interim advice from the JCVI, released last month, suggested more than 30 million of the most vulnerable people - including all adults over 50 - should receive a third dose.

The announcement comes after it was revealed more than 125,000 16 and 17-year-olds in England have had the vaccine in the two weeks since the NHS was given approval to offer that age group a jab.

In total, 47,460,526 first doses have now been given across the UK, while 41,157,069 people have had two doses.

"We are going to have a booster scheme," the health secretary said. "It will start some time in September.

"I couldn't tell you exactly when because before we start it... we need to get the final advice from our group of experts, our independent scientific and medical advisers, the JCVI, and so we're waiting for their final opinion."

He added: "Looking at everything, and the timing of everything, I'm confident we can start in September, when we will start with the most vulnerable cohorts, start offering that third jab."

Mr Javid's announcement comes after calls for caution regarding plans for a booster scheme.

Immunologist Professor Peter Openshaw, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), which advises the government, said the "question about boosters is a contentious one".

He said studies into the effectiveness of booster schemes were still ongoing and "everyone is very keen that if we do have surplus vaccines, that they're not necessarily used in this country, but might be sent overseas".

Earlier this month, the head of the Oxford Vaccine Group said doses needed to "go where they can have the greatest impact" - to protect unvaccinated people abroad.

Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, who led the team that created the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, said decisions on whether to give boosters "should be scientifically driven".

Asked whether the JCVI had concerns about plans for the booster scheme, Mr Javid said: "It's only with their expert advice that government would want to continue with their plans.

"I don't want to prejudge what they're going to say but, based on their interim advice, I think we can be confident that we will start a booster scheme next month."