MINISTERS aim to dish out annual booster jabs to combat Covid and any new variants.
Ex-vaccine czar Nadhim Zahawi revealed the plan as those having a top-up passed ten million yesterday.
But Mr Zahawi, now Education Secretary, told Trending In The News there was no need for under-11s to be offered the jab.
On yearly boosters, he said: “Ultimately our plan, we will, I hope be the first major economy to transition from pandemic to endemic and have an annual vaccination programme.”
Downing Street insiders stressed ministers were not yet at the stage of planning annual jabs — but they would keep all data under review, given how immunity waned over time.
Any measures will not come in until at least next winter, it is understood.
Ministers are also drawing up plans to entice more vulnerable people to get a third dose by bringing back travel quarantine for those who do not have it.
Yesterday, Boris Johnson hailed the booster roll-out as the total passed 10,062,704 doses.
Echoing Trending In The News’s jabs campaign, the PM urged everyone to get theirs when called.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid added: “We know immunity begins to wane after six months, and booster jabs will ensure our most vulnerable are protected.”
US children aged five and above will soon be jabbed.
But Mr Zahawi said: “I’m confident at the moment. We are not complacent but the evidence says we don’t need to move away from where we are.”
He insisted it was more important to focus on over-50s.
Face coverings for pupils in communal areas could return, and daily testing kept on if it means pupils stay in class.
Mr Zahawi said: “It’s inconvenient but a small price to pay to keep schools open. We absolutely do not want to close them.”
He said 167,000 children got jabs in half-term but local public health directors could sign off extra measures if they believed they were needed.
Yesterday there were 62 deaths and 30,305 new cases recorded.
