We are pleased to announce that, in line with national health guidelines, our surgery will be offering the Spring 2025 COVID booster vaccinations to eligible patients. This programme aims to provide enhanced protection against COVID, particularly for those at greater risk of severe illness.
Eligibility Criteria: The eligibility criteria for the Spring 2025 booster differ from those of the autumn programme. This means that even if you were eligible for the autumn booster, you may not be eligible for the spring booster. The national guidance has been refined to focus on those most at risk.
Eligible Patients:
- Adults aged 75 years and over – This includes individuals who will turn 75 before the end of the vaccination campaign on 17th June 2025.
- Residents in care homes for older adults – Ensuring continued protection for those in communal living settings.
- Individuals aged 6 months and over with a weakened immune system – As outlined in the immunosuppressed row of Tables 3 and 4 of the Green Book, chapter 14a. These are defined as
- Immunosuppression due to disease or treatment, including:
- Patients undergoing chemotherapy leading to immunosuppression,
- Patients undergoing radical radiotherapy,
- Solid organ transplant recipients, bone marrow or stem cell transplant recipients,
- HIV infection at all stages,
- Multiple myeloma or genetic disorders affecting the immune system (e.g. IRAK-4, NEMO, complement disorder, SCID).
- Patients who are receiving immunosuppressive or immunomodulating biological therapy including, but not limited to, anti-TNF, alemtuzumab, ofatumumab, rituximab,
- Patients receiving protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors, and individuals treated with steroid sparing agents such as cyclophosphamide and mycophenolate mofetil.
- Patients treated with or likely to be treated with systemic steroids for more than a month at a dose equivalent to prednisolone at 20mg or more per day for adults.
- Anyone with a history of haematological malignancy, including leukaemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.
- Those who require long term immunosuppressive treatment for conditions including, but not limited to, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, scleroderma and psoriasis.
Important Information: At our vaccination clinics, we will only be administering vaccines to adults aged 18 and over. For children aged 6 months to under 18 years, appointments can be booked via the NHS website or by calling the NBS booking line on 119. These services will reopen before the spring campaign begins.
Vaccination Schedule: Appointments will be available from April to June 2025, prioritising those at the highest risk. We will begin by vaccinating residents in older persons’ care homes and housebound patients who meet the eligibility criteria. Please note that being housebound alone does not make you eligible for the booster; you must also belong to one of the specified at-risk groups.
Once the care home and housebound vaccinations are completed, we will run clinics at the Healthy Living Centre, in partnership with Grove Surgery, as we have done previously.
Booking Your Vaccination: Eligible patients will receive an invitation via SMS with a booking link to arrange an appointment at their convenience. For patients who do not receive SMS communications, we will be making direct phone calls to help with booking.
Vaccine Information: The booster will be an updated vaccine made by Pfizer or Moderna, designed to target newer COVID variants. These updated vaccines provide strong protection, including higher antibody levels against recent strains such as Omicron.
Please note that we do not have the option to choose which vaccine will be available at the clinic. If you have concerns about the vaccine, you can discuss them with the clinician on the day of your appointment.
Why Get Vaccinated? Receiving the booster will help reduce the likelihood of severe illness from COVID this spring and summer. While no vaccine is 100% effective, it significantly lowers the risk of serious symptoms and complications. If you do catch COVID after vaccination, it is likely to be milder.
We strongly encourage all eligible patients to take up the offer of the Spring 2025 booster to maintain robust protection against COVID. If you have any questions or need assistance with booking, please contact our surgery. We are happy to help!