Health

UK to offer Covid booster shots for over 50s

London, Sep 14 (EFE).- The United Kingdom is expanding its vaccine campaign to give Covid-19 booster shots to healthcare personnel and the over 50s as part of a government bid to bring the pandemic under control in the upcoming months.

The UK government announced the measure Tuesday after advice from experts, who recommended boosters shots of Pfizer/BioNTech jabs and said it is safe to get a Covid-19 vaccine and a flu shot at the same time.

Vulnerable individuals and anyone between the ages of 16 and 65 at increased risk of severe illness from Covid-19 will have the right to receive the booster shot, according to the government.

Jabs of AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna are deemed safe and effective for the third dose vaccine drive, but experts recommended Pfizer because it is well tolerated.

Britons should get the booster dose at least six months after receiving the second.

In a press conference, England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam warned of a “bumpy” winter and said that the pandemic is still not over.

He added that the UK has had one of the world’s most successful Covid-19 vaccine programs.

“We’ve already seen the vaccines having a major impact on infections and an even bigger impact on hospitalizations and deaths and our latest estimates are that since we began deploying these vaccines they’ve probably averted in the region of 24 million cases of Covid-19 in the UK and around 112,000 deaths,” he said.EFE

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