What if you had AstraZeneca?
The AstraZeneca vaccine is no longer offered to anyone pregnant or under 40.
Everyone should have the same vaccine for the first two doses, unless they experienced serious side effects after the first dose. But, what about the booster?
The JCVI announced today: “Where mRNA vaccines cannot be offered, for example due to allergies, the AstraZeneca vaccine may be considered for those who received it previously.”
In April, the Department of Health and Social Care ordered another 60 million doses of the vaccine specifically for the booster campaign to be used alongside the other vaccines already purchased.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, Chair of COVID-19 Immunisation for the JCVI, said: “The UK’s COVID-19 vaccination programme has been hugely successful in protecting people against hospitalisation and death, and the main aim of the booster programme is to prolong that protection and reduce serious disease as we head towards the colder months.
“The JCVI is advising that a booster dose be offered to the more vulnerable, to maximise individual protection ahead of an unpredictable winter. Most of these people will also be eligible for the annual flu vaccine and we strongly advise them to take up this offer as well.”