UK: JCVI advises on eligible groups for autumn COVID-19 vaccination

London: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has announced its advice to Government for the COVID-19 vaccine programme in autumn this year.

Similar to previous spring and autumn campaigns, the Committee’s advice is to offer the vaccine to those at high risk of serious disease and who are therefore most likely to benefit from vaccination.

Vaccination continues to help protect against severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths arising from COVID-19.

JCVI advises the following groups be offered a COVID-19 vaccine this autumn:

adults aged 65 years and over

residents in a care home for older adults

individuals aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group (as defined in tables 3 or 4 in the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book)

The vaccine should usually be offered no earlier than around 6 months after the last vaccine dose.

Professor Wei Shen Lim, Chair of JCVI’s COVID-19 immunisation group, said:

The COVID-19 autumn programme will continue to focus on those at greatest risk of getting seriously ill. These people will benefit the most from a further vaccine dose.

It is important that everyone who is eligible takes up the offer before we head into winter. The vaccines offered provide good protection against developing severe disease, such as being hospitalised with COVID-19.

Dr Mary Ramsay, Director of Public Health Programmes at the UK Health Security Agency, said:

Our on-going surveillance shows that COVID-19 continues to cause severe illness, putting many in hospital, particularly older people and those with underlying medical conditions. But it also shows that the autumn vaccines are effective in helping to give added protection to those most at risk – almost halving the likelihood of hospitalisation from the virus for a few months following vaccination and over the winter period.

I urge everyone who is eligible to take up the offer of a vaccine as soon as possible once invited – it will help improve your immunity to COVID-19, which does wane over time.

UKHSA surveillance data on last autumn’s programme showed that those who received a vaccine were around 45% less likely to be admitted to hospital with COVID-19 from two weeks following vaccination with protection lasting for around 4 months, compared to those who did not receive one.

Vaccine uptake for last year’s autumn programme for those aged 65 years and over was approximately 70%.

NHS England will confirm details on how and when eligible people can access the autumn vaccine in due course.