Booster jabs offered to 16 and 17-year-olds from today

Previously, only clinically vulnerable 16 and 17-year-olds were recommended to get booster jabs

Teenagers aged 16 and 17-years-old will now be able to book their booster jabs, it has been announced. This age group have been eligible for vaccines since August, with more than 600,000 in England having had their second jab.

But around 40,000 teenagers will start receiving their invitations to get boosted next week.

There needs to be a three months wait between the second jab and the booster, but most 16 and 17-year-olds are likely to reach this benchmark in the coming weeks. GP and deputy lead for the NHS vaccination programme, Dr Nikki Kanani, said: "The NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme is expanding once again to offer eligible young people aged 16 and 17 the chance to book their boosters through the online booking service from tomorrow, with walk-in sites also available across the country, as the biggest and fastest vaccine drive in health service history continues at pace. "Covid has caused so much disruption for so many families over the past two years, affecting young people’s lives and education, and getting vaccinated protects them, their family and their friends, letting them stay at school and continue socialising. "We know that the best protection against coronavirus is to get vaccinated and I’d urge everyone, whatever your age, to come forward and get that vital top-up as soon as it is possible." Related links:

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Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: "More than four in five adults in England have already been boosted, helping to protect them from severe illness and reduce the pressure on the NHS in the face of Omicron.

"We’re now extending the programme to 16 and 17-year-olds so they can top-up their immunity this winter to keep themselves and their friends safe.

"We can learn to live with Covid-19 if everybody comes forward for their vaccines and gets boosted now."

Along with the three month wait between the second and third jab, those who have recently had the virus need to wait 12 weeks from their positive test before getting jabbed. But those aged 16 and 17 who are considered at high risk can wait just four weeks, or 28 days, from the date of a positive Covid-19 test before getting any dose of the vaccine. More than 114 million doses have been delivered in England since the Covid-19 Vaccination Programme started in December 2020, including more than 30 million top-up doses. About 83 percent of people aged 12 and over had two doses of the vaccine.