The United Kingdom announced earlier this week that it plans to offer an additional COVID vaccine shot for its most vulnerable populations this spring as part of the nation's precautionary strategy.
Under the new protocol, adults over the age of 75, nursing home residents and individuals over the age of 12 with compromised immune systems will be given an extra dose of vaccine six months after their last shot, the nation's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said in a press release.
Only the vaccines developed by Pfizer
This is the fourth booster shot offered to the elderly and the fifth dose offered to those with weakened immune systems in the U.K. The rest of the nation's population have been offered three vaccine doses: two initial shots and one booster.
"To maintain high levels of protection for the most vulnerable individuals in the population, an extra spring dose of vaccine is advised ahead of an expected autumn booster programme later this year," said Wei Shen Lim, chair of COVID-19 vaccination of the JCVI, in a press statement. "The JCVI will continue its rolling review of the vaccination programme and the epidemiological situation, particularly in relation to the timing and value of doses for less vulnerable older adults and those in clinical risk groups ahead of autumn 2022."
Details on the U.K.'s fall vaccination program have not yet been published.
"Thanks to our COVID-19 vaccination rollout, we are already the freest country in Europe," U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said in a press statement. "It has saved countless lives, reduced pressure on the [National Health Service] and is allowing us to learn to live with the virus."
The national regulatory committee's decision comes as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson works to ease all remaining COVID-era restrictions on the country. Earlier this month, Johnson announced plans to end all legal restrictions in England a month earlier than initially planned, as the nation moves towards a living with COVID strategy.
