
COVID booster vaccines to get green light in “next few days”, according to health secretary
pharmafile | September 8, 2021 | News story | Research and Development |
Coronavirus booster jabs are expected to be approved in “the next few days”, the UK Health Secretary, Sajid David, has said.
Sajid Javid said he was “confident” that the booster programme would be launched this month but that the Government was waiting for advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) for final details on the roll-out.
He said the work on the scheme was “almost done”.
Mr Javid told Sky News: “I’m very confident there will be a booster programme but in terms of who actually gets it and when, we’re waiting for final advice, which could come across certainly in the next few days from the JCVI. We need to see that advice.”
“That work is almost done and based on the timeline they’ve given us, I’m confident we could start the booster programme this month.”
The JCVI will advise on issues such as whether people should get the same type of coronavirus vaccine as previous doses or different ones.
It is hoped that the booster jabs could prevent a winter surge of coronavirus. However, the Chief Executive of AstraZeneca, Pascal Soriot warned that the boosters may not be needed for everyone in the UK and said that rushing into a booster roll-out could heap unnecessary pressure on the NHS.
Pascal Soriot wrote in The Daily Telegraph: “We need the weight of the clinical evidence gathered from real world use before we can make an informed decision on a third dose.
He warned that “mobilising the NHS for a boosting program that is not needed would potentially add unnecessary burden on the NHS over the long winter months.”
Lilly Subbotin






