A health body is urging three eligible groups of people to come forward for the next available COVID-19 booster jab amid a rise in cases.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) warns that not getting the top-up vaccine would leave you more vulnerable to hospitalisation and even death due to the illness.

The free jab, provided by the NHS, will be offered this autumn as protection from earlier vaccines will be “starting to wane”.

It will be offered to those most at risk of serious illness due to Covid and should provide protection for “around four months”.

According to UKHSA data from last year’s booster jab programme, people who received the vaccine were 45 percent less likely to be admitted to hospital with Covid from two weeks after it was administered.

The UKHSA said: “Vaccination continues to help protect against severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths arising from COVID-19.

“Between November, December and January over 38,000 people were admitted to hospital with the virus.”

The groups of people eligible for a booster jab this autumn are:

• Adults aged 65 years and over
• Residents in a care home for older adults
• Individuals aged six months to 64 years in a clinical risk group.

The eligibility is the same across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“The vaccine should usually be offered no earlier than around six months after the last vaccine dose,” the UKHSA adds.

“If you are eligible, you can get protection from an autumn COVID-19 vaccination even if you have not taken up a COVID-19 vaccine offer in the past.”

NHS England is yet to confirm details on how and when eligible people can access the autumn vaccine.

The call comes as Covid cases have continued to rise in the UK.

Data from the UKHSA shows in the week up to July 24 there were a total of 3,625 cases of Covid recorded in England.

Although this was an increase of just seven cases compared to the week before, it is significantly more than the number of cases in April this year before the latest surge.

In the week up to July 19, there were 211 deaths caused by Covid in England, a rise of 13.And in the seven days up to June 28 there were 2,797 patients admitted to hospital with Covid, a rise of 61 on the week prior.

The most recent uptick in cases has been linked to the arrival of a group of new Covid variants in the UK. Known collectively as FLiRT, they are descended from the dominant JN.1 variant, which is itself a sub-variant of the Omicron strain of Covid.

The official list of Covid symptoms has not changed and the NHS warns of:

• A high temperature or shivering (chills) – a high temperature means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
• A new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or three or more coughing episodes in 24 hours
• A loss or change to your sense of smell or taste
• Shortness of breath
• Feeling tired or exhausted
• An aching body
• A headache
• A sore throat
• A blocked or runny nose
• Loss of appetite
• Diarrhoea
• Feeling sick or being sick.

If you experience symptoms or test positive it is advised you try to avoid contact with other people for at least five days.