No more Covid jabs, millions are told – as experts hit out at ‘reckless decision’ to block all but one age group from further boosters
Health chiefs were today begged to re-examine the UK’s Covid jab policy after ditching plans to offer the jabs to under 75s this winter.
Invites won’t be dished out to up to six million pensioners aged 65-74, who were eligible during the pandemic.
Only those over the age of 75, those living in care homes and others who are immunosuppressed will be able to come forwards for a jab.
Experts labelled the move a ‘hugely concerning’ and ‘reckless decision’ warning cases could shoot up before the vulnerable get their top-up jab.
Scientists were alarmed last month after a new Covid variant dubbed ‘Stratus’ and believed to to be more infectious than previous Covid strains, soared to dominance in the UK.
But the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which guides ministers on jab rollouts, argued that additional Covid doses provide ‘very limited, if any, protection against infection’ given the ‘high population immunity’ to the virus.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association, said the JCVI’s decision was a ‘hugely concerning, a reckless decision’.
She added: ‘By restricting access to jabs this autumn ahead of peak Covid season, there is a serious risk that Covid cases in this age group increase compared to previous years putting even greater pressure on the NHS.
Invites won’t be dished out to up to six million pensioners aged 65-74, who were eligible during the pandemic
Symptoms of Covid often include fatigue, fever, headaches, muscle ache and a sore throat
‘Saving a few pounds by not giving a patient a jab could end now up leaving the NHS with a bill for thousands, if that patient ends up hospitalised with Covid later on.
‘Many patients will feel they need to pay privately to get protection.
‘We urge the JCVI and the government to think again and make everyone 65 and over in England eligible for an NHS COVID jab from their local pharmacy.’
She also said it was ‘madness’ for the UK to restrict jabs, when other nations including Germany and the United States were still recommending the vaccines for all pensioners.
‘To deny millions of seniors their COVID jab this year is to take an unacceptable risk with patient health and risks producing a winter crisis the NHS simply won’t be able to cope with,’ Dr Hannbeck added.
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said: ‘This decision is based on expert advice from the JCVI, which continuously monitor and evaluate emerging scientific evidence on Covid vaccines.
‘The autumn 2025 vaccination programme will target people who are at the highest risk of serious illness to protect the most vulnerable. We encourage anyone who is eligible for Covid vaccination to come forward for vaccination this autumn.’
Under the JCVI’s advice, frontline NHS workers and care staff will also no longer be offered free jabs.
Dr Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association, said the JCVI’s decision was a ‘hugely concerning, a reckless decision’
According to the latest UKHSA data, overall Covid cases are on the decline compared to recent weeks
A 2022 study led by academics at Imperial College London suggests almost 20million lives were saved by Covid vaccines in the first year since countries began rolling out the jabs, the majority in wealthy nations
‘In the current era of high population immunity to Covid, additional Covid doses provide very limited, if any, protection against infection and any subsequent onward transmission of infection,’ they said.
The vaccines are estimated to have saved tens of millions of lives globally from Covid, 1.6million in Europe and 3million in the US.
They are also credited with helping end the series of paralyzing lockdowns brought on by the Covid pandemic.
In the UK, ministers have repeatedly said they won’t resort to imposing lockdowns unless a doomsday Covid variant appears.
A wall of immunity among the population—built up by repeated waves of infection and vaccine rollouts—has given officials confidence to consign pandemic-era measures to history.
Spikes in Covid cases can still cause mass illness across the country, sparking chaos in schools, the health service and public transport.
But officials also no longer track the prevalence of the virus in the same way they used to, as part of the Government’s ushering in of pre-Covid normalities.
