Well Pharmacy urges older people and immunosuppressed patients to get their Covid boosters

Well Pharmacy is urging those eligible to take up the offer of a further Covid booster jab this spring.

Adults aged 75 years and over and anyone over 5 years old and are immunosuppressed – such as those who are undergoing chemotherapy or have had an organ transplant – are entitled to have a further Covid booster jab from mid-April, said one of the UK’s largest community pharmacy chains.

Taking part in the vaccination programme again, Well Pharmacy is encouraging people to book another booster as soon as they are contacted by the NHS – which should be at least six months after their previous booster.

The national booking site for those eligible opens this week.

The jabs have been updated since the vaccines were introduced to now target newer strains of Covid-19, Well said in a press release issued on Wednesday, 5 April.

Thousands of people are still testing positive for Covid each week according to Government data, and – while hospitalisations are down – a large number of people are still being hospitalised with Covid, so getting jabbed is as important as ever.

And the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recently confirmed that hospital admissions last autumn highlighted that the risk of becoming seriously ill from coronavirus was noticeably higher in people over 75.

George Sandhu, deputy superintendent pharmacist at Well Pharmacy, said: “While – happily – we are in a very different place nationally to where we once were on Covid, it hasn’t gone away.

“Thousands of people are still testing positive each week, so if you’re at greater risk of getting poorly as a result of catching Covid then it’s important to give yourself as much protection as possible. With the ever-changing covid situation, we would highly recommend people don’t delay in getting their booster. It is the best and safest way of protecting yourself and your loved ones, with the jab protecting against different variants of the virus."

Calling on those interested, he added: “Make sure you book your appointment as soon as you are contacted by the NHS, either online or by calling 119. We hope to see some of you in our pharmacies soon. If you have any questions, our pharmacy teams will be more than happy to assist you.”