Antibodies

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The UK is ramping up its Covid vaccine booster Campaign - part of an attempt to reduce the impact of the new Omicron variant, currently spreading across A Number of countries.

With nine in 10 of those aged 12 or over having had a single jab and eight in 10 having had a second, the focus has shifted to boosters, which show promising signs of

More Than 20 million boosters or third doses have been given So Far .

Who can get a vaccine or a booster?

The vaccine rollout was launched in winter 2020 and began with those considered most vulnerable before later moving down the adult age groups. All those aged 12 and over are now being offered two doses.

A booster Campaign , originally targeted at people over 40 or belonging to A Number of other vulnerable groups, has been extended to all over-18s.

The government says every adult will be offered a booster jab by The End of January .

Ministers say boosters will be prioritised according to age, with the NHS working down The List in five-year bands in a similar way to the original rollout.

The minimum gap between The Second jab and booster Dose has also been reduced from six to three months, to speed up The Process .

So Far , the UK has approved four vaccines for use: Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen; three of which require two doses for maximum protection.

All those aged under 40 are being offered an alternative to the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine due to

The vaccine currently being used for under-18s in the UK is Pfizer-BioNTech, but the Moderna vaccine has also been authorised for use in children.

Those eligible for boosters will receive one Dose of Pfizer or half a Dose of Moderna.

There is no vaccine currently approved for use in the under-12s.

How is the vaccine and booster rollout going?

So Far , More Than 51 million people have had a first vaccine Dose - Some 89% of over-12s. More Than 46 million - 81% of over-12s - have had both doses.

While uptake of first and second doses has dropped off, there has been a steep rise in people having booster shots.

More Than 20 million of these booster doses have been administered across the UK.

Progress made in the UK So Far means the country continues to be among those with the highest vaccination rates globally and is in The Top 10 countries with a population of at least one million.

Vaccination rates have now levelled off in every age group in England apart from the youngest bands, as The Chart below shows.

The highest rates of vaccination can be seen in the oldest age groups - among The First to be vaccinated.

The aim of the vaccination programme is to through developing the UK population's Immunity against Covid-19.

Data from The Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests More Than in the UK now have coronavirus Antibodies - which is evidence of a past Covid infection or having received at least one Dose of a vaccine.

However, this figure does not tell us how many people are protected from infection or how close We Are to reaching herd Immunity - The Point at which everyone is protected, directly or indirectly, as a result of high Immunity levels in the population.

Has the rollout been even across all areas?

Across the country, there continues to be Some variation in the vaccine programme.

Scotland has vaccinated 91% of those aged 12 and over with at least one Dose , while Wales has reached 90%, England 89% and Northern Ireland 87%.

Second doses are also being rolled out, with all nations reaching about 80% of over-12s So Far .

Across the English regions, The South West has vaccinated 85% of the same age group with at least one Dose , while London has reached 68%.

There have also been disparities between ethnic groups and poorer and wealthier areas.

Analysis of NHS records by the - a collaboration between Oxford University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine - shows that Black People were the least likely to have received a vaccine.

The study was based on More Than 20 million patient records in England and covers people not living in care homes. Areas of London are under-represented in the data.

In addition, vaccine take-up in poorer areas is lower than in more affluent areas.

For example, 88% of those aged 50 and over in the poorest areas had been given a vaccine by 10 November, compared with 96% in The Most affluent.

Is there enough vaccine?

Currently, the Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and one-shot Janssen vaccines are approved for use throughout the UK.

Others, such as those produced by Novavax and Valneva, have Not Yet been given the Green Light .

The UK had ordered More Than 540 million doses of seven of The Most promising vaccines, including The Four So Far approved for use.

In addition, the government has now signed deals to buy 114 million more doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to use in 2022 and 2023.

French vaccine maker Valneva said the UK government had scrapped a deal for 100m doses of its vaccine, which is yet to be approved.

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Source of news: bbc.com