Following updated advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on Monday, the NHS has now set out plans for the next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme - the largest and fastest vaccine drive in health service history. The programme will see the NHS become the first healthcare system in the world to use the next generation, bivalent Covid vaccine.
Set to start during the week of September 5, NHS staff will begin vaccinating care home residents and people who are housebound. The National Booking Service will also open that week ahead of the wider rollout, due to start on September 12, with the NHS inviting those who are most susceptible to serious illness from COVID-19 and those aged 75 and over to book an appointment from that week.
Extensive planning for the rollout is underway and local areas have already booked adult care home residents in for their vaccine to ensure they are protected at the earliest opportunity.
As with previous campaigns, the oldest and most vulnerable will be called forward first, with people able to book in online or through 119, as long as it has been three months since their last dose.
The NHS will continue to advise local sites to allow immunosuppressed patients to self-declare and attend walk-ins to make getting the extra protection as easy as possible.
Around 26 million people across England will be eligible for an autumn booster in line with guidance set out by the JCVI.
As many as 3,000 sites are expected to be part of the rollout, including GP practices and community pharmacies, with new sites joining the programme all the time.
The NHS will also being rolling out the flu vaccine and encouraging eligible people to take up the offer from the first of the month where possible.
Eligible individuals may be offered the flu and Covid jab at the same time, with the doses approved to be co-administered.
Local systems will roll the flu jab out in a way that works best for them.
Health and social care staff will also be eligible to get the autumn booster in line with JCVI guidance and in order to ensure NHS staff are protected. All providers are being asked to ensure their staff are offered the autumn jab, co-administering with the flu jab where possible.
The programme cannot come soon enough for some experts, as the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published this month show the number of people with a higher level of COVID-19 antibodies is falling rapidly. The estimated percentage of the population with an antibody level of at least 800 ng/ml slipped from a peak of 82.4% in March to 71.9% by mid-July and it is continuing to fall.
