PATIENTS booked in to receive their Covid booster jab this week will still be able to get it, St Helens CCG has confirmed.

The first wave of of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was rolled out over three days in December.

Previously, the plan was to have a booster jab three weeks later, but the government announced a change to its vaccination strategy last week.

The government decided to delay the second dose of the Pfizer and the newly-approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine by up to 12 weeks.

The UK’s four chief medical officers, including England’s Prof Chris Whitty, defended the move, saying a model where the government can vaccinate twice the number of people in the next two to three months is “obviously much more preferable.”

The move was backed by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which is advising the government.

They said the focus should be on giving at-risk people an initial dose of whichever vaccine is available.

However, Pfizer and BioNTech warned they do not have any evidence that shows the first dose alone offered protection after three weeks.

The change applies to people scheduled to have their second dose of the Pfizer jab after January 4, as well as those yet to receive either jab.

The British Medical Association said asking GPs to rebook appointments on such short notice was “unreasonable” and “grossly unfair” to thousands of at-risk patients in England.

However, in St Helens, GPs have confirmed they will be giving the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine to the over 80s cohort as booked this week.

Patients who attend the initial mass vaccination clinics will have been given an appointment for their second booster vaccination when they attended back in December for either Wednesday, January 6, Thursday January 7 or Friday, January 8.

The CCG said that following this week’s booster shots, patients who receive a Covid jab in the future will receive a follow-up appointment in around 10 to 11 weeks.

GPs will continue to vaccinate care home residents and staff and hope to start vaccinating our housebound patients, dependent on the supply of vaccines from the national team.

Dr Hilary Flett, GP and clinical lead for the vaccination roll out in St Helens, said: “Please attend your booked appointment as normal this week as we will be giving the second injection to our patients who attended our clinics three weeks ago.

”In St Helens we have made a decision based on best interests of our patients to go ahead and give the second vaccine to our extremely elderly patients. The majority of these patients who we vaccinated as our first cohort, were over 90 years of age.

"Following this, future vaccinations will see the patient being given an appointment around 10-11 weeks later for the second dose following the guidance set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).”