The current offer of first and second COVID-19 vaccinations for everyone aged five on, or before, 31st August 2022 will also end in two weeks' time, on Friday, 30th June.
The NHS COVID-19 Vaccination Programme campaign has provided more than 3.6 million people in England at greatest risk of severe illness from the virus with a spring booster since it started in early April – with 65% of those eligible in Kent and Medway taking up the offer.
You qualify for the extra jab if you are 75 or over, aged five and over with a weakened immune system, or live in a care home for older adults.
Those with weakened immune systems, also known as immunosuppressed, includes patients who have had organ transplants, or who have blood cancer, and those undergoing chemotherapy treatment for cancer.
Care home residents are directly contacted by the NHS, but other groups can book an appointment, or find a walk-in centre on the NHS website here
You don’t need to be registered with a GP but if you are having the booster make sure it is at least three months since your last dose.
“...it’s not too late for anyone who qualifies for the top up to get the extra protection”
Kent County Council’s Director of Public Health, Dr Anjan Ghosh, said: “Vaccination remains our best defence against what can be a serious illness, requiring hospital treatment.
“I’m pleased to report that around two-thirds of eligible people in Kent and Medway have so far taken up the offer of the spring booster, which is above the national average. And it’s not too late for anyone who qualifies for the top up to get the extra protection.
“There is also still time for residents to have their first or second dose. As well as increasing your resistance to COVID-19, vaccination also reduces the risk of you spreading the virus to others, including the elderly and frail.”
“Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself, and your loved ones”
James Williams, Medway Council’s Director of Public Health, added: “I would encourage anyone who has not yet had their COVID-19 vaccination to do so now.
"Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself, and your loved ones, from Coronavirus.”
NHS Director of Vaccinations and Screening Steve Russell also encouraged people to get protected before the end-of-June deadline.
He said: “If you have had only one COVID vaccine so far, or none at all, it is not too late. You can get vaccinated quickly and easily until 30th June, after which the offer will become more targeted, like the regular flu vaccine.”
The spring booster campaign follows advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) which said evidence showed older people were more likely to experience severe symptoms of COVID-19 and so gain the most from added protection.
For more information about the virus visit the NHS’s COVID-19 website and kent.gov.uk here
For further details about the spring booster campaign see the UK Health Security Agency’s update here: www.gov.uk/government/news/most-vulnerable-to-be-offered-spring-covid-19-booster
