Scotland to offer autumn Covid booster to at-risk groups

At-risk groups in Scotland will be offered another booster Covid vaccine dose this autumn.

It follows advice from the UK's vaccine advisory body to offer jabs to over-65s, health and care staff and clinically vulnerable adults aged 16-64.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said vaccination had been Scotland's "most effective tool against coronavirus".

The provisional guidance will give the NHS and care homes time to plan.

A spring booster is already being offered to people considered the most vulnerable to severe disease and death should they catch Covid:

Mr Yousaf said the Scottish government welcomed the interim advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

"Prioritising those most at risk has been our approach from the outset," he said.

"We will work closely with NHS boards to plan for this booster campaign in line with this interim advice and we stand ready to act on any further advice on offering boosters to additional groups in the future.

"Vaccination has been our most effective tool against coronavirus. However, the degree of protection offered wanes over time, which is why booster vaccination is needed to maintain the best protection against COVID-19 for those at highest risk of severe effects of the virus."

The most vulnerable groups have already been offered a fourth vaccination and would be offered a further vaccine in the autumn, roughly six months later.

The wider group - of less vulnerable older adults, frontline health and social care workers and those who have health conditions but are not severely immune compromised - will be receiving their booster roughly a year on from their last jab.

Mr Yousaf added: "We continue to encourage everyone to receive the doses they are eligible for as and when they become available."

Unvaccinated people make up a small fraction of the population but account for a disproportionately large number of intensive-care admissions.

The JCVI offers recommendations to the whole of the UK, but decisions on whether to act on it are made in the four nations.

It is not currently recommending that younger people and those who aren't at high risk receive a fourth booster at this point. But the body said it would continue to review the situation.

Prof Wei Shen Lim, who chairs the JCVI, said: "Last year's autumn booster vaccination programme provided excellent protection against severe Covid-19, including against the Omicron variant.

"As we continue to review the scientific data, further updates to this advice will follow."