People in Cumbria will soon be among the first in the world to receive the new COVID-19 vaccine when the autumn booster vaccine programme begins.
Set to start during the week of September 5, NHS staff will begin vaccinating care home residents and people who are housebound in South Cumbria and Lancashire.
The national booking service will also open that week ahead of the wider rollout, due to start on September 12. The NHS is inviting those who are most susceptible to serious illness from COVID-19 and those aged 75 and over to book an appointment from that week.
Jane Scattergood, lead for the vaccination programme in Lancashire and South Cumbria, said: “It’s so exciting that our country is the first to offer the new vaccine which fights against the original strain of the virus and the Omicron variant.
“I would urge everyone who is eligible to get this vaccine as soon as they possibly can. The world has moved forward but COVID-19 is still a horrible virus that can make you seriously ill. The best way to protect yourself is to get every vaccine that is offered to you.”
As with previous campaigns, the oldest and most vulnerable will be called forward first, with people able to book in online or through 119 as long as it has been three months since their last dose.
Well over four in five eligible people received a spring booster earlier this year and the NHS urged those people to get that dose before the end of July in order to ensure enough time had passed to optimise the protection an autumn booster would provide over winter.
The autumn booster campaign is among a package of NHS measures to prepare for winter, including by ramping up bed capacity and increasing the number of 999 and NHS 111 staff to deal with any additional pressure.
The NHS will contact people when it is their turn to book in for the vaccine – you do not need to contact the NHS.
The NHS will also roll out the flu vaccine and encourage eligible people to take up the offer from the first of the month where possible.
Eligible people may be offered the flu and COVID-19 jab at the same time.
Health and social care staff will also be eligible to get the autumn booster in line with JCVI guidance and in order to ensure NHS staff are protected, all providers are being asked to ensure their staff are offered the autumn jab, co-administering with the flu jab where possible.
