COVID-19 booster jabs for people with MS this autumn
All four UK governments have confirmed an autumn booster this year for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Everyone with MS will be eligible for the booster. The rollout is expected to start in September, but it will probably take several months to get it to everyone. You might also be offered a flu jab at the same appointment.
The autumn booster is recommended as well as, not instead of, the spring booster. So it’s not too late to get any vaccine jabs you’re eligible for.
But you can’t book an autumn booster yet. In some nations, you’ll be contacted directly by the NHS to arrange it, closer to the time. Check back with our COVID-19 vaccine page for booking details closer to the time.
Who can get the COVID-19 vaccine booster?
This is the full list of who’s eligible for the 2022 autumn COVID vaccine booster:
- anyone who’s 50 and over
- anyone who’s 5 to 49 and in a clinical risk group. That includes including pregnant women and everyone with MS
- household contacts of someone with immunosuppression. You're likely to be in this immunosuppressed group if you were eligible for the 'third primary dose' of the vaccine
- unpaid carers aged 16 to 49
- residents and staff in care homes for older adults
- frontline health and social care workers
Increasing protection from people more at risk from COVID-19
The governments have all agreed with the autumn booster recommendations from the JCVI. That’s the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. It’s a group of health care professionals and scientists who recommend who should be offered vaccines, how and when.
The main reason they’ve recommended the autumn booster is to increase protection for people more at risk from COVID-19. In particular, the booster is to protect people from more severe effects from the virus over the winter.
