Coronavirus: Who will get the Covid-19 vaccine next?
Ministers heralded a significant milestone in the UK’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout today, as the government achieved its target of vaccinating more than 15m people.
The landmark means everybody in the top four priority groups has now been offered a first dose of the vaccine.
That includes all care home residents and staff, everyone over the age of 70, all frontline NHS and care staff, and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable.
Members of the top four groups make up around 99 per cent of those most at risk of dying from coronavirus, meaning the most critical stage of the UK’s vaccination programme has been achieved.
The NHS will now turn to other groups on the vaccine rollout timeline, as the Prime Minister draws up a “roadmap” for exiting lockdown measures.
Here’s who will get the vaccine next:
Over-65s
The government has set a target to offer a first dose of the Covid vaccine to all 32m people in the top nine priority groups by May.
The NHS last week started sending out letters to the fifth group on the vaccine rollout list, which includes everyone between the ages of 65 and 69 — around 2.9m people across the UK.
Some parts of England including Shropshire, Coventry and Hampshire have already begun vaccinating the over-65s with their first dose. The rest of the UK will now follow suit.
Clinical condition
Once over-65s have been vaccinated, the NHS will begin vaccinating group six, which includes everyone between the ages of 16 and 65 with a clinical condition.
The 7.3m people across the UK with significant clinical conditions include any adults suffering with blood cancer, diabetes, dementia, severe asthma, severe mental illness and a host of other conditions.
The Prime Minister announced today that those with a clinical condition will start receiving letters urging them to book a vaccine appointment from this week.
Over-50s
The vaccine programme will move down the generational chart to groups seven, eight and nine once the clinically vulnerable have been offered their first dose of the jab.
Letters will be sent out first to the over-60s, then to the over-55s, then finally to the over-50s.
The government hopes to have reached the ninth group by the end of April or the beginning of May.
Ministers have said they are considering plans to prioritise vaccinating police officers and teachers after over-50s have received their first dose, though no official timeline has been announced.
Any change to priorities will be decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
Second doses
At the same time that people in groups five to nine of the vaccine rollout timeline are receiving their first dose of the jab, the NHS will start administering second doses of the jab to those in groups one to four.
Sir Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, announced today that people will start receiving their second doses from early to mid-March.
Despite fears that delaying the second dose may hamper the vaccine rollout, the World Health Organization last week said a 12-week delay between doses is the optimum method of administering the jab.
Stevens added that administering second jabs will not interfere with the vaccine programme for the rest of the population, since the NHS has stockpiled more than enough doses of both the Astrazeneca and Pfizer vaccines.
Rest of the population
Once the top nine priority groups have received their first dose of the vaccine, and those in the top four priority groups have received their second dose of the vaccine, the NHS will start sending out letters to the rest of the adult population.
It is widely understood that this will coincide with a major easing of lockdown restrictions, as most vulnerable groups across the UK will have a significant level of protection against coronavirus.
Boris Johnson has said the government intends to offer a first dose of the Covid vaccine to the 21m people in group 10 — the rest of the adult population — by the autumn.
The Prime Minister last week promised 2021 will see the return of the “Great British summer”, with lockdown measures set to reduce as adults receive their vaccine.
And then?
Scientists are still concerned about the threat of emerging Covid variants, which are thought to be partially resistant to available vaccines.
The Kent variation of coronavirus is currently the dominant strain across the UK.
Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, has stressed that there is no evidence to suggest that current vaccines, including the Astrazeneca and Pfizer/Biontech jabs, do not work against the Kent mutation.
There are some fears that other mutations, including the South African and Brazilian variants, and a new “variant of concern” first identified in Bristol, are somewhat resistant to vaccines.
However, only a few hundred cases of those variants have been identified across the UK so far, with sweeping measures in place to stop their spread, including surge testing and the hotel quarantine scheme.
That said, the Prime Minister last week said people will likely need booster jabs
especially suited to Covid mutations “every year”, including a top-up in the autumn.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Boris Johnson said: “As new variants appear, it will be more useful than ever to have vaccines that combat all variants.
“I think we need to be getting ready for a world in which we do have booster jabs against new variants in the autumn and maybe beyond. We should start to think about it as a flu jab — as something elderly and vulnerable people make sure they have every year.”
The government last week announced it had ordered 50m doses of a new Covid vaccine being developed by German biotech firm CureVac that will target emerging coronavirus mutations.
Other companies including Astrazeneca have said they will debut the “next generation” of Covid vaccines that protect against new strains by the autumn.
Booster jabs will likely mean countries around the world can avoid further national lockdowns in the future, though Van-Tam warned the “virus is here with us forever”.