Covid Vaccine to be Sold on High Street for First Time to Anyone Over 12 Years Old

COVID-19 jabs will be sold on the high street for £99 from next week, as Boots becomes the first major pharmacy to launch a private vaccination service. The Times has more.

The single-dose Pfizer vaccine will be offered at 50 stores from April 1st to anyone aged 12 or over, at a cost of £98.95.

It is the first time a COVID-19 vaccine has been available outside the NHS since the mass vaccination programme was launched in December 2020 at the height of the pandemic.

Since then, eligibility has been strictly determined by scientific advisers — with NHS booster vaccines restricted to those at high risk, including over-65s or patients with weakened immune systems due to conditions such as cancer.

Boots will offer the private vaccine to those aged 12 and over who do not meet the NHS criteria for a free booster. This means healthy adults will be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine for the first time since the official NHS programme ended in 2021. Although healthier young adults are extremely unlikely to develop severe COVID-19, the vaccine can protect them from uncomfortable symptoms such as coughs and a sore throat.

A Boots spokesman told the Times: “We are launching a private COVID-19 vaccination service for people who are not eligible for an NHS vaccination but still want the option to protect themselves from the virus. Our private service builds on our existing delivery of COVID-19 vaccinations for the NHS and we are pleased we can now offer COVID-19 vaccinations both on behalf of the NHS and privately, as we have done with flu vaccinations for many years.”

Worth reading in full.

Credit to the Times for mentioning that healthier young adults are “extremely unlikely” to develop severe Covid – but no credit for failing to mention the reams of data now available on serious side-effects, including in younger people.

It looks like children over 12 can get the vaccine without their parents’ consent – at least, I can see no sign on the the booking website of a note stating parental consent is required.