Nicola Sturgeon has confirmed today the government's plans for the booster vaccine scheme over the coming months.
Earlier this year, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) released initial advice on a third jab programme, recommending governments to provide those who are severely immunosuppressed with a third dose.
However, advice on a booster scheme has now been extended to include all those over-50.
Here's what you need to know about who will get a booster jab and when...
Who will get a booster jab against Covid in Scotland?
Only certain groups will get a booster jab against Covid in Scotland, which should ideally be composed of a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine, according to the JCVI.
The following groups will receive a third Covid vaccine in Scotland:
- All those over 16 who were initially in one of the nine priority groups, including all individuals aged 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
- All those over-50
- Frontline health and care staff
All over-12s who were severely immunosuppressed at the time of their first or second jab, including those with leukeamia, advanced HIV and recent organ transplants, will also receive a third dose of the vaccine, however this is independent from the booster scheme.
When will you get your booster jab?
The booster jab will be administered six months after people have received their second dose.
As with the initial vaccine rollout, the booster programme will start with frontline health workers and residents in care homes before working its way down to all those over-50.
Those first in line will be able to book their appointments will be able to book from Monday September 20.
Adults aged 70 years or over, and everyone aged over 16 on the highest risk list will then be contacted either by letter or by their GP.
Remaining eligible groups - all adults over 50, all those aged 16 to 49 with underlying health conditions, adult carers, unpaid and young carers, and adult household contacts of people who are immunosuppressed - will be able to book online from October.
Where possible, it is hoped the booster vaccine will be given at the same time as the flu vaccine.
Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca have been approved has booster vaccines.
Why are booster jabs being introduced?
The booster scheme comes as part of the governments plans to manage Covid over the winter months.
Experts have warned of a "rough winter" ahead for the UK with Covid, flu and other respiratory viruses all in circulation.
It is hoped providing these groups with a booster vaccine will help to limit both the spread and the severity of the virus, allowing society to live with Covid as it does with other viruses.
The first minister described the booster scheme as "very welcome".
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here