People aged 75 and over and those in care homes are among those to be offered a spring Covid-19 booster jab.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that certain groups of people should be offered the vaccinations, with options including the Pfizer, Moderna, Sanofi/GSK jabs.
People aged 75 and over will be offered a vaccine, along with care home residents and anyone aged five and over who is immunosuppressed, the Department of Health has announced.
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Northern Ireland's Chief Medical Officer Professor Sir Michael McBride said the roll out of the latest booster campaign is due to commence in mid April and run until the end of June. It will cover a population of almost 190,000 individuals.
He added: “The programme will include those who turn 75 years old by 30th June 2023 who will be eligible for a vaccination at any point during the spring campaign. Those who are admitted to an older adult care home or become immunosuppressed by 30 June 2023 will be considered eligible as well.”
As with earlier stages of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, for the spring booster programme all care homes will be paired with a community pharmacy who will attend the home and offer vaccination to all residents.
GPs will be asked to invite their eligible patients aged 75+ and those who are immunocompromised to attend for vaccination.
In addition to being invited by their own GP, those aged 75+ or immunocompromised individuals will also have the option to receive the vaccine via a participating community pharmacy.
Trusts will play a much reduced role in the spring programme, mainly vaccinating eligible housebound patients from lists supplied by GPs. Trusts will also vaccinate those immunocompromised individuals aged 5 to under 18 years of age, identified by their GP.
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