People living with immunosuppressed patients to be prioritised for Covid vaccines

Those living with people who have weakened immune systems are to be prioritised for Covid jabs, the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation (JCVI) has said.

All over 16s-sharing a household with someone who is immunosuppressed have been made immediately eligible for jabs.

It follows research showing that vaccines are far less effective in those who have weakened immune systems, such as people undergoing cancer cancer treatment.

Around 1.5 million people in this category are already prioritised for jabs. The new strategy aims to vaccinate up to one million more adults sharing their households in order to prevent them from passing the virus on to the most vulnerable.

This group has been given the same priority as group six in the vaccines priority list – those with underlying conditions – meaning they are immediately eligible for jabs as part of the first phase of the rollout. Government sources said some would already have been offered jabs because of their age.

It follows research which found that cancer patients were far less likely than others to be protected by one dose of vaccine.

Those with weakened immune systems include people undergoing chemotherapy and other immunosuppressive treatment, people who have HIV and those with blood cancer.

Prof Wei Shen Lim, the chairman of Covid immunisation for the JCVI, said: "Early data indicate lower protection in vaccinated adults who are immunosuppressed. Those with severe immunosuppression are therefore more likely to suffer poor outcomes following infection and are less likely to benefit from the vaccines offered.

"Our latest advice will help reduce the risk of infection in those who may not be able to fully benefit from being vaccinated themselves."

A British study found that, three weeks after the first Pfizer jab, antibody responses were found in just 39 per cent of people with solid cancers and 13 percent of people with blood cancer.

This compared with 97 percent of people with no cancer, according to the research by King's College London and the Francis Crick Institute. However, a second dose of the Pfizer jab three weeks after the first gave patients a far better immune response – of 95 per cent – in those with solid tumours.

Gemma Peters, the chief executive of Blood Cancer UK, said: "We're delighted the Government has now agreed to prioritise adults living with people with blood cancer for a vaccine.

"We've always feared that the vaccines may not be as effective for people with blood cancer, and so have long argued that vaccinating the people they live with is important for protecting them. It has always been very likely that the vaccines affect transmission, and so it is disappointing it seems to have taken the JCVI so long to recognise this."

She urged the JCVI to look again at speeding up access to second doses for those with cancer, saying: "The JCVI needs to give doctors the power to decide when to give a second dose to their blood cancer patients.

"We hope the JCVI will be quicker in acting on this than they have been for prioritising household members, as every day that passes means more people are missing out on getting a second dose at the time their doctor thinks works best for them."