Analysis and Health

Covid boosters: Why are US and UK vaccine policies so different?

In the US, health officials recommend that everyone over the age of 6 months receives the latest annual covid-19 vaccine, while the UK and other European countries are restricting it to older or vulnerable people

26 September 2023

Covid-19 vaccination in Batavia, Illinois, last year
David Sharos/Beacon-News/Chicago Tribune/Getty Images

Who should receive a covid-19 booster vaccine? As countries in the northern hemisphere prepare for winter, it is a question that governments must tackle – and some are reaching very different answers.

The latest covid-19 vaccines are expected to bolster protection by targeting more recent variants of the coronavirus. In the US, the government has recommended that everyone 6 months and older should get a booster, whereas agencies in the UK and many other European countries are only permitting the most vulnerable to do so. …

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