When can I get a third vaccine booster dose?

BOOSTER jabs are currently being dolled out to Brits.

Not everyone is eligible for the call-up however, with only specific groups able to get the third dose.

Millions are able to get the shot which is planned to prevent the NHS becoming overwhelmed this winter.

Three vaccines have been approved as safe and effective as Covid boosters – AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna - by the drug regulator the MHRA.

But the JCVI have decided to opt for Pfizer as a preference after studies showed it is well tolerated and works well as a booster.

If necessary, Moderna may be used as an alternative, but as a half-dose.

The rollout started on September 16.

As well as this, people have been advised they should also get their flu vaccine if invited.

They may even be invited to get it on the same day as their Covid booster shot, and have one in each arm.

When will you get your third booster?

For now, only people over the age of 50, health and social care workers, over 16s with an underlying health condition and those who are immunosupressed are recommended to get the booster vaccine.

It includes people living in care homes.

People will be invited six months on from their second dose. Therefore, not everyone will get the call straight away.

If you are over 50 or fit any of the other categories, AND had your second dose more than six months ago, you could be expecting a text or call very soon.

Unlike the previous rollouts, you can't book without an invitation to do so.

But if you are yet to hit the six month marker you will have to sit tight.

Your protection against the virus will still be strong, as it's only after six months that it wanes.

Will everyone get a third vaccine booster?

When there is more data, experts plan to look at whether boosters should also be offered to healthy people under the age of 50.

But at the moment, it is not considered necessary given that most people under 50 had their second shot over the summer.

Their protection will remain high until at least the start of 2022, and younger people are also less at risk of severe disease, and so are not a priority.

Professor Wei Shen Lim, chairman of Covid-19 immunisation for the JCVI, has said the UK’s Covid-19 vaccination programme has been hugely successful in protecting people against admission to hospital and death.

He pointed out the main aim of the booster programme is to prolong that protection and reduce serious disease as we head towards the colder months.

He said: “The JCVI is advising that a booster dose be offered to the more vulnerable, to maximise individual protection ahead of an unpredictable winter.”