Vaccination Booster Programme

Spring boosters

Islanders over the age of 75 and those who are immunosuppressed are to be offered a spring booster after the Committee for Health & Social Care agreed to follow the latest guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Letters are being sent to those who are eligible once they are six months post their most recent vaccine dose. Some of the most vulnerable islanders are eligible in March but most in this cohort will be invited for a booster dose during the coming months.

Booster Programme

The Committee for Health & Social Care has agreed that the following changes to the Booster Programme will be implemented:

• Anyone over the age of 16 should be offered a booster dose of vaccine provided that 3 months has elapsed since their second primary dose of vaccine (or single dose if Janssen).
• Children and young people aged 12 to 15 should be offered a booster dose of vaccine no sooner than 3 months after completion of their primary if they are in a clinical risk group or are a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed, or if they are severely immunosuppressed and have had a third primary dose.

Please note that if you have recently had Covid-19, you cannot have your booster until 28 days have passed since the day of your swab. Those aged 12 to 17 will need to wait 12 weeks.

The booster programme is being offered, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Individuals are being offered a booster provided that 3 months has passed since the date of their final primary dose of vaccine (Dose 2 if you were initially given a course of AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna  - Dose 1 if you were initially vaccinated with Janssen).

Before you visit

Please take an LFT before attending any health and care facility, including the CVC drop-ins, PEH campus, any GP practice or nursing/residential care home. Face masks should also be worn at these facilities.

Please note that if you have recently had Covid-19, you cannot have your booster until 28 days have passed since you tested positive for COVID-19 or for those aged 12 to 17 you will need to wait 12 weeks.

If someone in your household tested positive for COVID please take an LFT. If the LFT is negative, you may attend your appointment but must wear a mask.

If you are experiencing any COVID-19 like symptoms, no matter how mild, please do not attend the CVC. If you are symptomatic and have a negative LFT then please do another LFT 24 hours after the first test to verify its result. You can contact the clinical helpline on 01481 220001 or 01481 220002 for further advice.

What is the booster vaccine for?

We are offering a booster programme in line with the recommendations of JCVI. This is because, like for some other vaccines, levels of protection afforded by the primary COVID-19 vaccination programme may begin to wane over time. This booster dose will help extend the protection a person has gained from their first 2 doses to give them longer term protection.

The JCVI advises that the booster vaccine dose is offered no earlier than 3 months after completion of the primary vaccine course. However, this doesn’t mean that you are ‘no longer vaccinated’ as soon as 3 months has elapsed. Protection against severe disease from the first 2 doses seems to decline very slowly. So, there is no cause for concern if the booster vaccine is given a few weeks after the 3-month time-point. The booster dose should help to extend a person’s protection.