There seem to be more details published on this yesterday and the news looks good for all of us. To put it briefly
JCVI have advised a 2nd booster (a 5th dose for most of us) for those who are immunosuppressed(*). See here for the announcement on the government website.
(*)They defer to the Green Book for the definition of immunosuppressed - " individuals aged 12 years and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in in the COVID 19 healthcare guidance Green Book"
The Green Book definition (Chapter 14a, Table 3) defines immunosuppression, and states that one of the inclusion criteria is "Anyone with a history of haematological malignancy, including leukaemia, lymphoma, and myeloma."
Saying âAnyone with a history of haematological malignancyâ basically means anyone who has, or has ever had, any blood cancer.
Of course, the fact that itâs written in black and white doesnât mean that the policy will be swiftly and smoothly implemented, but at least it gives us some ammunition if we need to convince anyone.
Given that theyâre saying this should be 6 months after the previous dose, it will should probably start to roll out around May. I think I was one of the earliest to have all of my previous doses - had my 3rd primary dose in September, 4th dose (1st booster) in December, so will probably be in line for one of these 5th doses (2nd booster) in May. Gives them 2-3 months to sort out the logistics of it - weâll see if they actually manage to.
We donât have much more information about the practicalities around the fifth dose (2nd booster) yet but we want to assure you all that this is something we are liaising with JCVI to get more answers and clarity on. As soon as we hear ore we will update out webpages and of course I will share them on here.
My concern is for those like myself who had the 4th jab (booster) at the end of January. The proposal is to give everyone over 75 and the immunosuppressed a 5th jab in the Spring (circa April) and a 6th (booster) to those who would qualify for a flu jab to get that in the Autumn (circa October). What use is that when I had my 4th jab on 29th January and thus could only have my 5th at the end of July followed by the 6th jab at the end of January 2023. Falling outside of the perceived times of giving the boosters to the over 50âs but not the immunosuppressed means we will all be chasing ever diminishing options of where we can go to get the 5th & 6th.
The reason for my negative viewpoint is the local GP surgery was doing covid jabs but by the middle of December said there was no demand so they stopped. Luckily for me the local chemist had decided to do a walk-in facility so I was able to get my 4th jab (booster) but the fear is that in 6 months time will they continue to offer the walk-in service. Time will tell.
Yes Iâm a bit confused by the timing. I had my 4th dose at the beginning of January which would mean not getting the 5th until July and any autumn one until winter. It also doesnât match up with previous advice.
This is interesting - the NHS issued guidance on the spring booster on 3rd March. In the timing section it has this wording
â Timing of the spring booster
You should be offered an appointment around 6 months (and not before 3 months) since your last dose of vaccine.â
So Iâm wondering if theyâve inserted that mention of 3 months to give some wiggle room and allow those of us where itâs the 5th jab to get it after 3 months (so it would be a spring booster still!) rather than having to wait 6 months since the 4th jab . Do you have any more info on why theyâve added that mention of 3 months in the guidance?
Well this is looking very positive. In the NHS Green Book which spells out the guidance to GPs/consultants on treatment protocols, it is recognising that the immunosuppressed who have had their first booster recently (4th jab following 3 primary jabs), are indeed able to get their spring booster (5th jab) in spring as long as it is 3 months after their 4th jab. So those of us who had our 4th jab (first booster) in Dec/Jan/Feb it looks like we will be able to get our 5th jab when they open up up the spring booster campaign (April/May).
I saw something yesterday on a BBC news feed (so may not be accurate) that said the immunosuppressed would be invited for their spring jab from the end of March. I assume this is the 3 months after the dec/jan last booster. This would then bring us better in line if it goes to a 6 month booster there after so we get one before the winter sets in.
Yes it seems thatâs what they are aiming for (based on the wording in the Green Book) , we get our spring booster (5th jab) in Apr/May and then we will be well aligned with everyone else for any autumn booster programme.
All sounds very promising for those of us who are immunocompromised. Not so good for the over 65s who may be quite vulnerable due to age, and had their booster (x2 primary and one booster) more than six months ago! It seems the evidence is indicating vaccine efficacy starts to wane, so maybe they should be entitled to a booster as well?
Thanks so much for this @CaroleCW, we are awaiting clarity and plans on how this will be rolled out for our community. As ever, we will communicate any updates as they come to us following our discussions. Kind regards Gemma
Thanks Gemma. It sounds like they are reducing the use of GPs/PCNs for the spring booster rollout so suspect we will have to book via national booking system into local vaccine centres. As you say we will wait and see what transpires
Hi @GemmaBloodCancerUK , do you know if
household members of immunosuppressed people are also going to be included in the Spring booster programme. I didnât here any mention of this news reports.
