Get a COVID-19 vaccination in Northern Ireland
The winter vaccination programme, which includes the COVID-19 booster and flu vaccine, is now available. Find out if you’re eligible and where to get it. First, second and booster COVID-19 vaccine doses are also still available to anyone who needs them.
COVID-19 Autumn booster vaccination
You will be offered an additional COVID-19 booster, as well as a flu vaccine, as part of the Autumn booster programme if you are:
- aged 50 and over
- a resident or work in a care home for older adults
- aged five to 49 and in a clinical risk group
- aged five to 49 and a household contact of a person who is immunosuppressed
- a frontline health and social care worker
If you were born on or before 31 March 1973, you will be invited by your GP to receive a vaccination, or you can book your vaccination at a participating community pharmacy.
Information on where you can get your booster is below.
Invitation from your GP
Your GP practice will invite you for an Autumn booster if you are:
- aged 50 and over (born before 31 March 1973)
- aged 18 to 49 and in a clinical risk group
- aged 18 to 49 and a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed
- a career aged 18 to 49
- pregnant
If you're housebound, you should contact your GP and they will arrange a visit from a district nurse.
Community pharmacy
You can get your Autumn booster at a participating community pharmacy if you are:
- aged 50 and over (born before 31 March 1973)
- a carer aged 18 to 49
- front line health and social care workers
- pregnant women
If your chosen community pharmacy is unable to offer vaccination, there may be other pharmacies or Trust vaccination clinics in your area offering vaccination.
HSC Trusts
Trusts will be offering vaccinations to:
- frontline health and social care workers
- pregnant women
- those aged five to 17 in a clinical risk group
- those aged five to 17 and a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed
- those aged 16 to 17 who are carers
Further information on these locations is available on the Trust websites.
- Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
- Northern Health and Social Care Trust
- South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
- Southern Health and Social Care Trust
- Western Health and Social Care Trust
You can find out which HSC Trust clinics and community pharmacies are offering vaccinations near you by putting in your post code at the following link:
First, second and booster doses
First, second and booster doses of the vaccine are still available if you have not yet received them.
First and second doses
Anyone aged five years and over (born on or before the 31 August 2017) who is a resident of Northern Ireland (NI) can get a first and second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
You generally have to be registered with a GP in Northern Ireland.
If you live in NI but are not registered with a GP in NI, or are temporarily a resident in NI, you will need to bring evidence of your address to your vaccination appointment.
If you have any issues with this, email the Department of Health at the address below for advise:
First booster dose
People aged 16 and over and some children aged 12 to 15, can get a first booster dose.
People aged five and over who had a severely weakened immune system when they had their first two doses, will be offered a third primary dose before any booster doses.
Where to get vaccinated
First, second and booster doses are available at HSC Trust vaccination clinics.
If you are aged 18 and over, you can also get vaccinated at participating community pharmacies.
If you're housebound, you should contact your GP and they will arrange a visit from a district nurse.
You can find out which HSC Trust clinics and community pharmacies are offering vaccinations near you by putting in your post code at the following links:
RNIB helpline
If you are blind or partially sighted and need help in accessing the details of your local participating pharmacy, you can contact RNIB, Monday to Friday from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm and Saturday from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm.
This is not a booking line and the operator cannot help organise any vaccination appointments.
- phone: 0303 123 9999
- email: helpline@rnib.org.uk
Calls cost no more than a standard rate call, or count towards any inclusive minutes, to an 01 or 02 number. The price of calls varies between different providers, so check with your provider if you are unsure.
Children aged five to 11 years of age
JCVI recommends that children aged five to 11 years of age (born on or before the 31 August 2017) should be offered two 10 micrograms doses of the Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 vaccine.
The 10 micrograms dose is a third of the strength of an adult dose.
Those in a clinical risk group, or children who live with someone who is immunosuppressed, must wait eight weeks between the first and second doses.
They are also eligible for an Autumn booster, as long as it is at least three months after their most recent dose.
All children aged five to 11 years of age, not in a risk group or a household contact of an immunosuppressed person, must wait 12 weeks between the first and second doses.
Advice for parents is available at the link below:
Young people aged 12 to 17 years
All 12 to 17 year-olds are eligible to receive two doses of the Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccine. In most cases, this should be 12 weeks apart, or 12 weeks post infection.
All 16 and 17 year-olds and children aged 12 to 15 years of age who are in a clinical risk group or who live with an immunosuppressed person can also receive a booster dose three months after their second dose.
All those aged 12 and over who are in a clinical risk group, are also eligible for an Autumn booster.
Further information is available at:
- COVID-19 vaccination - a guide for children and young people and translations
- What to expect after your COVID-19 vaccination - advice for children and young people and translations
People aged 18 years and over
If you are aged 18 and over, the required interval between first and second doses is eight weeks, while for the first booster dose it is three months after the second dose.
Two COVID-19 vaccines are available to this age group in Northern Ireland:
- Comirnaty (Pfizer) as part of a primary course
- Spikevax (Moderna) as part of a primary course
- Nuvaxovid (Novavax)
People aged 75 and over, people who live in care homes for older people, and people aged 12 and over who have a weakened immune system, will also have been offered a spring (second) booster.
The following bivalent vaccines have also been approved for use in the Autumn booster programme:
- Comirnaty (Pfizer) original/ Omicron BA.1 bivalent
- Spikevax (Moderna) original/ Omicron bivalent
Those who are severely immunosuppressed
JCVI advises that a third primary dose should be offered to a small number of individuals aged five years and over with severe immunosuppression.
These individuals were identified by their Trust clinician or GP and invited to receive a third primary dose.
This third primary dose should then be followed with a booster dose (fourth dose), for those aged 12 years and over, from three months after the third primary dose is administered.
A spring booster (fifth dose) was offered to immunosuppressed aged 12 years and over, in May and June 2022.
Individuals in a clinical group aged five and over will be offered a booster dose as part of the Autumn programme, as long as it is at least three months after their most recent dose.
Pregnant or believe to be pregnant
Women who are pregnant are encouraged to have the first, second or booster jabs as soon as possible to help better protect themselves and their baby from any serious consequences from COVID-19.
Expectant mothers aged under 18 should receive primary vaccination in line with other groups at high risk, which is two doses at an eight-week interval.
If you test positive for COVID-19 you should wait four weeks after the infection before getting a vaccination.
Further advice is available at:
For advice about getting the COVID-19 vaccination, you can speak to your obstetric provider or midwife.
Pregnant women can receive their vaccination at their local community pharmacy or Health and Social Care Trust.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has produced detailed questions and answers on COVID-19 vaccines, pregnancy and breastfeeding at this link:
There is absolutely no evidence that any of the vaccines can affect the fertility of women or men.
More information is available on the British Fertility Society website.
Follow public health advice after being vaccinated
Two primary doses of the current approved vaccines, as well as booster doses, have shown a high level of protection against serious illness from COVID-19, but no vaccine gives 100 per cent protection.
Research is ongoing to see what impact the COVID-19 vaccines have on reducing the spread of the disease and to examine the extent to which vaccinated people can still pass the infection on to others.
Therefore, after vaccination, you should follow the public health advice and are asked to:
- practise social distancing
- wear a face covering
- wash your hands carefully and often
Further information on the public health advice is available at:
- Coronavirus (COVID-19): how to stay safe and help prevent the spread
Further information about the vaccine
The Public Health Agency has developed a range of leaflets and a frequently asked questions section:
Vaccine safety
The vaccines have met strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). More information is available at:
Proof of vaccination
If you need proof of vaccination, information is available at:
For the latest travel advice go to: