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Nurses and nursing students could get COVID-19 booster jab from September

Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advises government to deliver booster jabs

Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advises government to deliver booster jabs to front-line staff

Nurses and nursing students might be offered a COVID-19 booster jab with flu vaccine this autumn
Picture: Alamy

Nurses and nursing students could be offered a COVID-19 booster jab with their flu vaccine from September, if interim advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is implemented.

The vaccination priority plan has been released by the JCVI, who advise the government on vaccines, but a final decision about booster jabs will only be made once further data is analysed about the protection offered by two doses of the vaccine.

Government working with NHS to rapidly deliver booster jab if needed

If the booster programme goes ahead in the autumn, front-line healthcare workers will be offered the jab alongside those over 70 and people in clinically vulnerable groups.

Health and social care secretary Sajid Javid said the government is preparing for the booster option if needed: ‘We are working with the NHS to make sure we can rapidly deliver this programme to maintain protection for people in the winter months.’

Consultation on whether COVID-19 vaccine should be a condition for all NHS nursing staff

The news comes as the government plans to consult on whether COVID-19 vaccination should be a condition of deployment for nursing staff in the NHS, a rule it intends to introduce for care home staff.

NHS England statistics show that 83% of health and social care staff in England have received two doses of the vaccine.

In Scotland, 88% of front-line healthcare staff have received two jabs, and in Wales, 91% of healthcare workers have been fully vaccinated.

In Northern Ireland as of 5 March, 123,000 health and social care staff have been vaccinated.

COVID-19 booster jab at a glance

Will I be offered a COVID-19 booster?

If the guidance is confirmed, then yes. All front-line nurses and nursing students will offered the booster jab

When will I be given one if this goes ahead?

From September onwards

Will it be mandatory?

Under current rules, no. However, the government is planning to make COVID-19 vaccination a condition of deployment for staff working in care homes in England. It is also launching a similar consultation on making flu and COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for all NHS staff



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