There appears to be confusion amongst some GP surgeries as to who is eligible for the Winter Covid Booster for 2025. Vaccination clinics are starting in October and booking is available now.
The UK Health Security Agency issues “The Green Book” which covers many difference vaccination programmes including Covid. I was told about it by @Charlesh47 who warned it does make hard reading. He is right - so I hope this post may help clarify a few bits so others can ‘challenge’ surgeries if they are told they do not qualify.
The whole section on Covid Vaccinations is here -
First of all, I’d like to point out that it states that Carers (in receipt of Carer’s Allowance) are eligible. Not every surgery will pick up on this as they probably don’t know if a person is in receipt of CA.
The section where this is mentioned is on page 21 of the above Section of Green Book (as follows):-
Definitions of other high-risk groups
*Household contacts Individuals who expect to share living accommodation on most days (and therefore continuing close contact is unavoidable) with people who are immunosuppressed (defined as immunosuppressed in tables 3 or 4). *
Carers
Those who are eligible for a carer’s allowance, or those aged 16 years and over who are the sole or primary carer of an elderly or disabled person who is at increased risk of COVID-19 mortality and therefore clinically vulnerable. Those clinically vulnerable to COVID-19 are defined by the following JCVI priority groups: a) children of any age with severe neuro-disability, severe or profound and multiple learning disabilities (including Down’s syndrome and those on the learning disability register) or immunosuppression (as defined in table 4), b) adults who have underlying health conditions leading to greater risk of disease or mortality as defined in table 3, c) those of advanced age.
The eligibility of others is defined within tables in this section so you will probably have to root through to check if a Caree falls within one of them. My husband falls into Priority Group 4 due to Respiratory and Heart issues, yet I was told he is not eligible. I am going to contest this as we had a dispute over the last booster and he was reluctantly given it - but only because I challenged the HCA and then a nurse in charge of the clinic!
I hope this helps everyone who wants to get a Booster but has been turned down.
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