The overall news about how Covid-19 has affected the UK so far this year has been relatively positive: although we have still had a lot of hospitalisations and deaths from Covid and flu, figures are lower in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland compared with the same period last year. News is also coming in about the next few rounds of Covid vaccine boosters. It seems that while countries such as the US and France have made vaccines available to anyone who wants them, the UK will probably continue restricting free access to select groups, and may reduce access further in the future.

The spring booster campaign will be, as expected, more restricted than the recent autumn campaigns – targeting adults aged 75 and over, older people in care homes and children and adults who are immunosuppressed. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which makes recommendations to government, says it is using a “bespoke, non-standard method of cost-effectiveness assessment” to inform priorities moving forward, but full details of its analysis are not available yet (the JCVI said material for its spring campaign will be published “in due course”). Looking ahead at the coming rollouts, and reading between the lines, it seems likely the number of groups offered boosters will continue to shrink.

The 2023 autumn rollout already saw a much-reduced offer compared with previous years, and the JCVI notes that autumn 2024 will probably be even smaller. Reading through the latest JCVI statement, its........

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