COVID-19: Gap Between First And Second Dose Of Vaccine Narrows To Eight Weeks For Over 50s Amid Fears Of Indian Variants | UK News

The time between vaccine doses has been shortened for people over the age of 50 and clinically vulnerable people – from 12 weeks to eight weeks.

This comes amid concerns about the Indian variant of the coronavirus, with the warning of Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a press conference “Serious disruption” of the roadmap outside of the lockdown if the strain has high transmissibility.

The number of cases of the strain has more than doubled for two consecutive weeks in the UK, from 202 to 520 to 1,313 in a fortnight.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty said he expected the variant become the most dominant in UK.

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Some 36,115,955 people received a first dose of the vaccine, while 19,319,010 follow-up injections were administered.

Mr Johnson said: “Following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization, we will speed up the remaining second doses to over 50s and clinically vulnerable people across the country so that they are only eight weeks old. after the first dose, and if you are in that group, the NHS will be in contact with you. “

He added: “We will also prioritize first doses for anyone who is eligible who has yet to show up, including those over 40 – and I urge all members of these groups to move forward as soon as possible. “

The Department for Health and Social Affairs said in a statement: “This is to ensure that people across the UK have the strongest possible protection against the virus at an earlier opportunity.”

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He added: “Those under the age of 50 will continue to receive their first dose, with their second dose at 12 weeks, as has been the rollout strategy so far.”

Documents from the Pandemic Influenza Scientific Group on Modeling, …