Alliance Health Spokesperson Paula Bradshaw has said the Northern Ireland authorities must apply the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on “booster” third doses of the coronavirus vaccination without delay, as the guidance finally caught up with research which had been emerging internationally for some time.

The South Belfast MLA stated: “It is frustrating, given a lower share of the population here has received their ‘booster’ third doses of the vaccine, that we felt unable to act beyond JCVI guidance which was already ten weeks out of date when we could see the internationally emerging evidence was that waiting six months was medically unnecessary.

“The JCVI guidance is now that all adults should be offered a third dose, the so-called ‘booster’, and that this dose may proceed three months after the second dose.

“What we need now is a clear statement from the Minister that the authorities in Northern Ireland had prepared for this eventuality, as it was inevitable, and that they will act swiftly to update information to the public and ensure anyone who wishes to have a third dose more than three months after their second is able to access one swiftly.”