![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1_01HGH33ACRVSW4XYNS2658NRHB.jpg\")
<\/p>\nAll those eligible will be offered an appointment between April and June.<\/p>\n
The Spring Covid booster vaccine programme begins in Northern Ireland this week (Image: Peter Byrne\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
The 2026 Covid-19 spring vaccination programme is now underway in Northern Ireland<\/a> giving the more vulnerable members of our community the opportunity to top up their protection ahead of any potential waves of the virus over the coming months.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s spring vaccine began this week and will be offered to adults aged 75 years old or over; residents in a care home for older adults and individuals aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in Covid-19<\/a>: the green book, chapter 14a.<\/p>\n Rachel Spiers, Senior Commissioning Lead for Immunisations at the Public Health Agency (PHA<\/a>) confirmed that the spring Covid-19 vaccination campaign will start on Monday, April 20 and run until June.<\/p>\n READ MORE: ‘I’m living with MS and face judgement and assumptions every day’<\/a>READ MORE: Stormont urged to address \u2018catastrophe\u2019 in hospital emergency departments<\/a><\/p>\n She added: \u201cBased on expert advice, this programme aims to protect those considered most vulnerable from severe illness<\/a> due to Covid-19 infection over the spring and summer. This year the RSV vaccination eligibility criteria has been aligned to match the over 75 group who are eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine. This makes it easier for those who are over 75 and due to get both vaccines to get them at the same appointment.<\/p>\n \u201cRespiratory viruses like Covid-19 are still in circulation and can be life-threatening for the most vulnerable people in society. Residents in older adult care homes, adults who are 75 or over and people who are immunosuppressed are particularly vulnerable to complications from Covid-19.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important to keep up to date with your vaccines, as viruses change and protection fades over time. The best way to protect yourself and others is through vaccination. I would urge everyone who falls into an eligible group to take up the offer of free vaccination when available.\u201d<\/p>\n All those eligible will be offered an appointment between April and June. They will be invited to have the top-up around six months from the last dose, but it can be given from three months since the last dose.<\/p>\n The vaccines are being rolled out to eligible groups via GPs, community pharmacies and HSC Trusts.<\/p>\n Community pharmacies will be visiting care homes to vaccinate eligible residents.People aged 75+ will receive an invite in due course from their GP surgery, or they could enquire if the vaccine is available via a community pharmacy or HSC Trust clinic. Those who are eligible for both RSV and spring COVID-19 vaccinations may be offered them at the same time by their GP practice, in line with JCVI guidance.Immunosuppressed individuals aged 18 or over will receive their vaccination via GPs, community pharmacies and HSC Trusts.Immunosuppressed individuals aged 6 months to 17 years of age, as identified by their GP or specialist, can receive their vaccine from HSC Trusts.Housebound patients will be identified by GPs and the HSC Trust vaccination teams will administer vaccinations.<\/p>\n For further information on the spring top up see www.nidirect.gov.uk\/covidvaccine<\/a>. View information on the RSV vaccine for adults at www.pha.site\/immunisation-and-vaccinations<\/a>.<\/p>\n Want to see more of the stories you love from Belfast Live? Making us your preferred source on Google<\/a> means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Belfast Live as a preferred source, simply click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All those eligible will be offered an appointment between April and June. The Spring Covid booster vaccine programme…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2211,59,102,2212,1647,2213,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-542962","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-coronavirus","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-in-the-know","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-public-health-agency","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}