Pharmacists warn they do not have sufficient Covid boosters for autumn rollout

Pharmacies yesterday warned they have insufficient Covid jabs for the autumn booster campaign.

From today around 1.6million care home residents, staff and housebound people will start to be given jabs to protect them ahead of winter. An additional four million people including the over-75s will be able to book a fourth jab from Wednesday.

But Leyla Hannbeck, of the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, said some members had receiving just a third of their orders. ‘We’ve known for months that there’s going to be a vaccination process from autumn onwards,’ she told the Sunday Telegraph.

‘You would have kind of thought that the stock would be there to go with it.’

An NHS spokesman said: ‘There are no issues with deliveries and vaccination sites will be rolling out the new bivalent vaccine as quickly as possible.’

A woman receiving her Covid jab in a clinic. An additional four million people including the over-75s will be able to book a fourth jab from Wednesday

Dr Hannbeck said she was concerned patients might not return if they tried to get jabs only to find none available.

While the programme has been planned for months, Moderna’s dual vaccine that tackles both the original Covid strain and the newer Omicron variant was only authorised weeks ago.

On Saturday, regulators also announced the approval of a new ‘variant busting’ bivalent vaccine made by Pfizer.

Shipments are to be made immediately and the jabs are expected to be used as part of the new vaccine drive.

In the coming weeks, the booster rollout will expand to include 26 million people across England, including the over-50s.

Some 3,100 sites are expected to be part of the drive, including GP practices and community pharmacies.