UK Health Security Agency News and Media

07 Mar 2023

Most vulnerable to be offered spring COVID-19 booster

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has confirmed its advice for a 2023 spring COVID-19 booster programme.

In January 2023, the committee advised preparations should begin for potential booster programmes in spring and autumn this year, with further details to be announced at a later date.

The committee has since advised that a spring booster dose should be offered to:

  • adults aged 75 years and over;
  • residents in a care home for older adults; and
  • individuals aged 5 years and over who are immunosuppressed

Eligible individuals will be offered the vaccine around six months after their previous dose. NHS England will confirm operational details for the programme in due course.

The JCVI has advised the following vaccines may be used in the 2023 spring programme:

  • Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent
  • Moderna bivalent
  • Sanofi/GSK monovalent (beta variant)
  • Novavax monovalent (wild-type variant) – only for use when alternative products are not considered clinically suitable

The vaccine offered will depend on a person’s age and local supply considerations. Children under 12 years of age will be offered a children’s formulation of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.

Professor Wei Shen Lim, Chair of the JCVI’s COVID-19 Committee, said: “Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself against COVID-19 and the spring booster programme provides an opportunity for those who are at highest risk of severe illness to keep their immunity topped up. 

“This year’s spring programme will bridge the gap to the planned booster programme in the autumn, enabling those who are most vulnerable to be well protected throughout the summer.”

Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at the UK Health Security Agency, said: “COVID-19 is still circulating widely, and we have recently seen increases in older people being hospitalised.

“It is important those at highest risk of severe illness do not become complacent and I would encourage everyone who is eligible to come forward once the booster programme starts.”

ENDS.

Contact Information

Chris Hewett
UK Health Security Agency
chris.hewett@ukhsa.gov.uk

Notes to editors

Notes to editors:

  • Immunosuppressed cohorts are defined in Table 3 (page 19) and Table 4 (page 26) in the COVID-19 chapter of the Green Book.
  • Data from the 2022 spring booster programme showed that the booster dose improved protection against hospitalisation among the over 75s, peaking by an additional 59 per cent two to four weeks after the vaccine was received.
  • More than 83 per cent of people aged 75 and over received a booster dose in the 2022 autumn programme. Latest vaccine uptake data from the autumn booster programme can be found here.
  • Full details of the spring booster programme are published in the JCVI advice here