People with epilepsy will not be automatically eligible for the Spring 2025 COVID-19 booster, according to advice given to the UK government by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
As with the autumn 2024 booster, any adults aged 75 years and older will be offered the vaccine, as well as residents of care homes for older adults.
However, unlike in the autumn, only those who are in the Green Book’s clinical risk group ‘immunosuppression’, aged six months and over, are also eligible. People in the other clinical risk groups are not eligible for the booster.
People who are immunosuppressed include those undergoing chemotherapy, those with genetic disorders affecting the immune system and those taking medicines that affect the immune system, such as people with auto-immune diseases.
The JCVI said the aim of the immunisation programme is to prevent serious disease arising from COVID-19.
It said in a statement: “Over the last four years, population immunity to SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) has been increasing due to a combination of naturally acquired immunity following recovery from infection and vaccine-derived immunity.
“COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people, though it can still be unpleasant, with rates of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19 having reduced significantly since SARS-CoV-2 first emerged.”
The JCVI said that COVID-19 vaccination programmes are targeting the people most at risk of serious disease – the oldest adults and those who are immunosuppressed.
If you have any questions or need support, you can get in touch with the Epilepsy Action Helpline online, by live chat or by calling 0808 800 5050.