https://theconversation.com/covid-vaccines-why-the-uk-needs-to-rethink-its-decision-to-stop-boosters-for-young-and-healthy-people-199044
COVID vaccines: why the UK needs to rethink its decision to stop
boosters for young and healthy people
Published: February 10, 2023 11.41am EST
Author
Stephen Griffin
Associate Professor of Viral Oncology, University of Leeds
Disclosure statement
Stephen Griffin is affiliated with Independent SAGE and is a Champion
for the Long COVID Kids Charity. Stephen would like to thank Christina
Pagel for her comments on an earlier draft of this article.
Partners
University of Leeds
University of Leeds provides funding as a founding partner of The >Conversation UK.
View all partners
CC BY ND
We believe in the free flow of information
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative
Commons license.
Twitter35
Facebook179
The UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recently >recommended that the current autumn booster campaign, offering
additional COVID vaccine doses to higher-risk groups, including people
with certain medical conditions and those aged over 50, will end on
February 12.
Vulnerable groups will be offered COVID boosters in autumn 2023, with >additional boosters in spring 2023 for those at highest risk. But, for a >large portion of people, there will be no more COVID vaccines.
The offer of third doses to everyone over 16 will be withdrawn after
February 12, with no indication it will be reinstated. The offer of
primary COVID vaccinations also looks likely to end during 2023 for most >people, including children.
So if youre a non-vulnerable person aged under 50 who is yet to receive
a first, second, or third dose, come February 12 you may well have
missed your chance.
Dont let yourself be misled. Understand issues with help from experts
In their statement, the JCVI highlight waning vaccine uptake, and note >rescinding the offer of third doses comes as the transition continues
away from a pandemic emergency response. Their message is that targeted >vaccination of the vulnerable is sufficient to allow us to live with
COVID.
This is shortsighted at best. It means that in the future,
paradoxically, most people will only obtain any immunity to SARS-CoV-2
(the virus causing COVID) by becoming infected. This contradicts the >fundamental premise of safe vaccination.
The pandemic remains unpredictable
In England there were roughly 135,000 direct COVID hospital admissions
in 2022, with around 33,000 deaths involving COVID (COVID was main
underlying cause in 66%).
Some 1.8 million people in the UK report suffering from long COVID for
at least 12 weeks, around 650,000 of whom developed the condition from >infections in 2022.
While endemic respiratory viruses cause one, or sometimes two, waves of >infection annually, SARS-CoV-2 isnt seasonal, its pandemic and
perennial. 2022 saw five omicron waves in the UK, and another is starting.
Omicron has caused multiple waves because it evolves very quickly. This >allows SARS-CoV-2 to infect more people, despite vaccines and immunity
gained in previous waves, by evading prior antibody responses.
Read more: Six common COVID myths busted by a virologist and a public
health expert
Vaccination is better than infection including in kids
Whether you have immunity from prior infection, vaccination, or both, a >growing narrative suggests its OK to catch SARS-CoV-2 unless youre >vulnerable. But while both vaccination and prior infection reduce the
risk of serious consequences from COVID, they clearly dont reduce it to >zero.
Also, protection wanes over time. Though no medicine is completely
risk-free, a booster vaccine can top up immunity safely, without the >considerable risks of an infection. And vaccines add significant
protection even if youve already had COVID.
Even in children, who are at reduced risk of severe COVID compared with >adults, vaccination has clear benefit. COVID is a major risk among
paediatric infections. Smaller risks are magnified when so many are
infected (as we saw in 2022, when the large majority of children under
11 caught COVID at least once). Vaccination also reduces the risk of
long COVID.
Strikingly, as many children under five are admitted to intensive care
with COVID as those aged between 45 and 54 (although the latter are now >mostly vaccinated). Risk declines in primary school-aged children, then >starts to build again through adolescence and into adulthood.
A child with a healthcare worker after receiving a vaccine.
The UKs COVID vaccine rollout for children has been muddled. >FamVeld/Shutterstock
COVID vaccines provide children with excellent protection against severe >disease, though less so from infection. In the UK theyre only offered
to children who turned five before September 2022, making the UK an
outlier compared with many other wealthy countries, which offer COVID >vaccines consistently for children aged five and older.
COVID vaccines have also been approved in the UK for children under
five, but are not currently offered. This contrasts with a growing
number of countries including the US and Israel which now vaccinate this >youngest age group.
So it appears that children in the UK who were too young before
September 2022, or missed their primary doses, will soon have no
opportunity to get vaccinated against COVID unless theyre clinically >vulnerable. Instead, they face multiple infections.
Read more: COVID vaccine: children in England turning five will no
longer be offered a jab here's why thats bad news
Mixed messages
One-quarter of the English population remains unvaccinated. Most are >children, but this also includes nearly 30% of adults under 40. As well
as age, uptake varies with social deprivation and ethnicity,
exacerbating health inequalities.
Inconsistent messaging from politicians and health leaders, including >presenting infection in children as preferable to vaccination, has
probably played a key role in reducing vaccine uptake. The JCVI has been
at best lukewarm in its endorsement of vaccines for children.
In the face of this mixed messaging, its somewhat ironic they cite low >uptake as a reason for withdrawing current offers.
Removing choice from those who are as yet unvaccinated to come forward
is highly unusual and doesnt occur for any other UK vaccine programme
we know of.
It also positions the UK apart from other wealthy countries which are >offering continual booster programmes. For example, Australia has been >offering fourth doses for some time and is shortly going to make fifth
doses available widely for adults. The US is also planning free annual >boosters for healthy adults and, crucially, continues vaccinations for >preschool children.
Vulnerable people will remain at risk
Paradoxically, those JCVI would seek to protect via targeted vaccination
are those least likely to respond well to vaccines. There is also a
dwindling number of therapeutics available in the UK to protect this >vulnerable group from serious disease if they do become infected.
Offering boosters and maintaining primary vaccines in the wider
population, ideally from preschool, would give added protection to
younger people or those currently unvaccinated. It would also indirectly >protect those who are vulnerable by reducing infections and onward
community transmission.
Michael Ejercito wrote:
https://theconversation.com/covid-vaccines-why-the-uk-needs-to-rethink-its-decision-to-stop-boosters-for-young-and-healthy-people-199044
COVID vaccines: why the UK needs to rethink its decision to stop
boosters for young and healthy people
Published: February 10, 2023 11.41am EST
Author
Stephen Griffin
Associate Professor of Viral Oncology, University of Leeds
Disclosure statement
Stephen Griffin is affiliated with Independent SAGE and is a Champion
for the Long COVID Kids Charity. Stephen would like to thank Christina
Pagel for her comments on an earlier draft of this article.
Partners
University of Leeds
University of Leeds provides funding as a founding partner of The
Conversation UK.
View all partners
CC BY ND
We believe in the free flow of information
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative
Commons license.
Twitter35
Facebook179
The UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recently
recommended that the current autumn booster campaign, offering
additional COVID vaccine doses to higher-risk groups, including people
with certain medical conditions and those aged over 50, will end on
February 12.
Vulnerable groups will be offered COVID boosters in autumn 2023, with
additional boosters in spring 2023 for those at highest risk. But, for a
large portion of people, there will be no more COVID vaccines.
The offer of third doses to everyone over 16 will be withdrawn after
February 12, with no indication it will be reinstated. The offer of
primary COVID vaccinations also looks likely to end during 2023 for most
people, including children.
So if you’re a non-vulnerable person aged under 50 who is yet to receive >> a first, second, or third dose, come February 12 you may well have
missed your chance.
Don’t let yourself be misled. Understand issues with help from experts
In their statement, the JCVI highlight waning vaccine uptake, and note
rescinding the offer of third doses comes “as the transition continues
away from a pandemic emergency response”. Their message is that targeted >> vaccination of the vulnerable is sufficient to allow us to “live” with >> COVID.
This is shortsighted at best. It means that in the future,
paradoxically, most people will only obtain any immunity to SARS-CoV-2
(the virus causing COVID) by becoming infected. This contradicts the
fundamental premise of safe vaccination.
The pandemic remains unpredictable
In England there were roughly 135,000 direct COVID hospital admissions
in 2022, with around 33,000 deaths involving COVID (COVID was main
underlying cause in 66%).
Some 1.8 million people in the UK report suffering from long COVID for
at least 12 weeks, around 650,000 of whom developed the condition from
infections in 2022.
While endemic respiratory viruses cause one, or sometimes two, waves of
infection annually, SARS-CoV-2 isn’t seasonal, it’s pandemic and
perennial. 2022 saw five omicron waves in the UK, and another is starting. >>
Omicron has caused multiple waves because it evolves very quickly. This
allows SARS-CoV-2 to infect more people, despite vaccines and immunity
gained in previous waves, by evading prior antibody responses.
Read more: Six common COVID myths busted by a virologist and a public
health expert
Vaccination is better than infection – including in kids
Whether you have immunity from prior infection, vaccination, or both, a
growing narrative suggests it’s OK to catch SARS-CoV-2 unless you’re
“vulnerable”. But while both vaccination and prior infection reduce the >> risk of serious consequences from COVID, they clearly don’t reduce it to >> zero.
Also, protection wanes over time. Though no medicine is completely
risk-free, a booster vaccine can “top up” immunity safely, without the >> considerable risks of an infection. And vaccines add significant
protection even if you’ve already had COVID.
Even in children, who are at reduced risk of severe COVID compared with
adults, vaccination has clear benefit. COVID is a major risk among
paediatric infections. Smaller risks are magnified when so many are
infected (as we saw in 2022, when the large majority of children under
11 caught COVID at least once). Vaccination also reduces the risk of
long COVID.
Strikingly, as many children under five are admitted to intensive care
with COVID as those aged between 45 and 54 (although the latter are now
mostly vaccinated). Risk declines in primary school-aged children, then
starts to build again through adolescence and into adulthood.
A child with a healthcare worker after receiving a vaccine.
The UK’s COVID vaccine rollout for children has been muddled.
FamVeld/Shutterstock
COVID vaccines provide children with excellent protection against severe
disease, though less so from infection. In the UK they’re only offered
to children who turned five before September 2022, making the UK an
outlier compared with many other wealthy countries, which offer COVID
vaccines consistently for children aged five and older.
COVID vaccines have also been approved in the UK for children under
five, but are not currently offered. This contrasts with a growing
number of countries including the US and Israel which now vaccinate this
youngest age group.
So it appears that children in the UK who were too young before
September 2022, or missed their primary doses, will soon have no
opportunity to get vaccinated against COVID unless they’re clinically
vulnerable. Instead, they face multiple infections.
Read more: COVID vaccine: children in England turning five will no
longer be offered a jab – here's why that’s bad news
Mixed messages
One-quarter of the English population remains unvaccinated. Most are
children, but this also includes nearly 30% of adults under 40. As well
as age, uptake varies with social deprivation and ethnicity,
exacerbating health inequalities.
Inconsistent messaging from politicians and health leaders, including
presenting infection in children as preferable to vaccination, has
probably played a key role in reducing vaccine uptake. The JCVI has been
at best lukewarm in its endorsement of vaccines for children.
In the face of this mixed messaging, it’s somewhat ironic they cite low
uptake as a reason for withdrawing current offers.
Removing choice from those who are as yet unvaccinated to come forward
is highly unusual and doesn’t occur for any other UK vaccine programme
we know of.
It also positions the UK apart from other wealthy countries which are
offering continual booster programmes. For example, Australia has been
offering fourth doses for some time and is shortly going to make fifth
doses available widely for adults. The US is also planning free annual
boosters for healthy adults and, crucially, continues vaccinations for
preschool children.
Vulnerable people will remain at risk
Paradoxically, those JCVI would seek to protect via targeted vaccination
are those least likely to respond well to vaccines. There is also a
dwindling number of therapeutics available in the UK to protect this
vulnerable group from serious disease if they do become infected.
Offering boosters and maintaining primary vaccines in the wider
population, ideally from preschool, would give added protection to
younger people or those currently unvaccinated. It would also indirectly
protect those who are vulnerable by reducing infections and onward
community transmission.
The only *healthy* way to stop the pandemic, thereby saving lives, in
the UK & elsewhere is by rapidly ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19
) finding out at any given moment, including even while on-line, who
among us are unwittingly contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or
asymptomatic) in order to http://tinyurl.com/ConvinceItForward (John
15:12) for them to call their doctor and self-quarantine per their
doctor in hopes of stopping this pandemic. Thus, we're hoping for the
best while preparing for the worse-case scenario of the Alpha lineage mutations and others like the Omicron, Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota,
Lambda, Mu & Delta lineage mutations combining via
slip-RNA-replication to form hybrids like
http://tinyurl.com/Deltamicron that may render current COVID vaccines/monoclonals/medicines/pills no longer effective.
Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry ( http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest
) and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.
So how are you ?
HeartDoc Andrew, in the Holy Spirit, boldly wrote:
Michael Ejercito wrote:
https://theconversation.com/covid-vaccines-why-the-uk-needs-to-rethink-its-decision-to-stop-boosters-for-young-and-healthy-people-199044
COVID vaccines: why the UK needs to rethink its decision to stop
boosters for young and healthy people
Published: February 10, 2023 11.41am EST
Author
Stephen Griffin
Associate Professor of Viral Oncology, University of Leeds
Disclosure statement
Stephen Griffin is affiliated with Independent SAGE and is a Champion
for the Long COVID Kids Charity. Stephen would like to thank Christina
Pagel for her comments on an earlier draft of this article.
Partners
University of Leeds
University of Leeds provides funding as a founding partner of The
Conversation UK.
View all partners
CC BY ND
We believe in the free flow of information
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative
Commons license.
Twitter35
Facebook179
The UK Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recently
recommended that the current autumn booster campaign, offering
additional COVID vaccine doses to higher-risk groups, including people
with certain medical conditions and those aged over 50, will end on
February 12.
Vulnerable groups will be offered COVID boosters in autumn 2023, with
additional boosters in spring 2023 for those at highest risk. But, for a >>> large portion of people, there will be no more COVID vaccines.
The offer of third doses to everyone over 16 will be withdrawn after
February 12, with no indication it will be reinstated. The offer of
primary COVID vaccinations also looks likely to end during 2023 for most >>> people, including children.
So if youre a non-vulnerable person aged under 50 who is yet to receive >>> a first, second, or third dose, come February 12 you may well have
missed your chance.
Dont let yourself be misled. Understand issues with help from experts
In their statement, the JCVI highlight waning vaccine uptake, and note
rescinding the offer of third doses comes as the transition continues
away from a pandemic emergency response. Their message is that targeted >>> vaccination of the vulnerable is sufficient to allow us to live with
COVID.
This is shortsighted at best. It means that in the future,
paradoxically, most people will only obtain any immunity to SARS-CoV-2
(the virus causing COVID) by becoming infected. This contradicts the
fundamental premise of safe vaccination.
The pandemic remains unpredictable
In England there were roughly 135,000 direct COVID hospital admissions
in 2022, with around 33,000 deaths involving COVID (COVID was main
underlying cause in 66%).
Some 1.8 million people in the UK report suffering from long COVID for
at least 12 weeks, around 650,000 of whom developed the condition from
infections in 2022.
While endemic respiratory viruses cause one, or sometimes two, waves of
infection annually, SARS-CoV-2 isnt seasonal, its pandemic and
perennial. 2022 saw five omicron waves in the UK, and another is starting. >>>
Omicron has caused multiple waves because it evolves very quickly. This
allows SARS-CoV-2 to infect more people, despite vaccines and immunity
gained in previous waves, by evading prior antibody responses.
Read more: Six common COVID myths busted by a virologist and a public
health expert
Vaccination is better than infection including in kids
Whether you have immunity from prior infection, vaccination, or both, a
growing narrative suggests its OK to catch SARS-CoV-2 unless youre
vulnerable. But while both vaccination and prior infection reduce the
risk of serious consequences from COVID, they clearly dont reduce it to >>> zero.
Also, protection wanes over time. Though no medicine is completely
risk-free, a booster vaccine can top up immunity safely, without the
considerable risks of an infection. And vaccines add significant
protection even if youve already had COVID.
Even in children, who are at reduced risk of severe COVID compared with
adults, vaccination has clear benefit. COVID is a major risk among
paediatric infections. Smaller risks are magnified when so many are
infected (as we saw in 2022, when the large majority of children under
11 caught COVID at least once). Vaccination also reduces the risk of
long COVID.
Strikingly, as many children under five are admitted to intensive care
with COVID as those aged between 45 and 54 (although the latter are now
mostly vaccinated). Risk declines in primary school-aged children, then
starts to build again through adolescence and into adulthood.
A child with a healthcare worker after receiving a vaccine.
The UKs COVID vaccine rollout for children has been muddled.
FamVeld/Shutterstock
COVID vaccines provide children with excellent protection against severe >>> disease, though less so from infection. In the UK theyre only offered
to children who turned five before September 2022, making the UK an
outlier compared with many other wealthy countries, which offer COVID
vaccines consistently for children aged five and older.
COVID vaccines have also been approved in the UK for children under
five, but are not currently offered. This contrasts with a growing
number of countries including the US and Israel which now vaccinate this >>> youngest age group.
So it appears that children in the UK who were too young before
September 2022, or missed their primary doses, will soon have no
opportunity to get vaccinated against COVID unless theyre clinically
vulnerable. Instead, they face multiple infections.
Read more: COVID vaccine: children in England turning five will no
longer be offered a jab here's why thats bad news
Mixed messages
One-quarter of the English population remains unvaccinated. Most are
children, but this also includes nearly 30% of adults under 40. As well
as age, uptake varies with social deprivation and ethnicity,
exacerbating health inequalities.
Inconsistent messaging from politicians and health leaders, including
presenting infection in children as preferable to vaccination, has
probably played a key role in reducing vaccine uptake. The JCVI has been >>> at best lukewarm in its endorsement of vaccines for children.
In the face of this mixed messaging, its somewhat ironic they cite low
uptake as a reason for withdrawing current offers.
Removing choice from those who are as yet unvaccinated to come forward
is highly unusual and doesnt occur for any other UK vaccine programme
we know of.
It also positions the UK apart from other wealthy countries which are
offering continual booster programmes. For example, Australia has been
offering fourth doses for some time and is shortly going to make fifth
doses available widely for adults. The US is also planning free annual
boosters for healthy adults and, crucially, continues vaccinations for
preschool children.
Vulnerable people will remain at risk
Paradoxically, those JCVI would seek to protect via targeted vaccination >>> are those least likely to respond well to vaccines. There is also a
dwindling number of therapeutics available in the UK to protect this
vulnerable group from serious disease if they do become infected.
Offering boosters and maintaining primary vaccines in the wider
population, ideally from preschool, would give added protection to
younger people or those currently unvaccinated. It would also indirectly >>> protect those who are vulnerable by reducing infections and onward
community transmission.
The only *healthy* way to stop the pandemic, thereby saving lives, in
the UK & elsewhere is by rapidly ( http://bit.ly/RapidTestCOVID-19
) finding out at any given moment, including even while on-line, who
among us are unwittingly contagious (i.e pre-symptomatic or
asymptomatic) in order to http://tinyurl.com/ConvinceItForward (John
15:12) for them to call their doctor and self-quarantine per their
doctor in hopes of stopping this pandemic. Thus, we're hoping for the
best while preparing for the worse-case scenario of the Alpha lineage
mutations and others like the Omicron, Gamma, Beta, Epsilon, Iota,
Lambda, Mu & Delta lineage mutations combining via
slip-RNA-replication to form hybrids like
http://tinyurl.com/Deltamicron that may render current COVID
vaccines/monoclonals/medicines/pills no longer effective.
Indeed, I am wonderfully hungry ( http://tinyurl.com/RapidOmicronTest
) and hope you, Michael, also have a healthy appetite too.
So how are you ?
I am wonderfully hungry!
| Sysop: | Keyop |
|---|---|
| Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
| Users: | 302 |
| Nodes: | 16 (2 / 14) |
| Uptime: | 122:55:24 |
| Calls: | 6,769 |
| Calls today: | 2 |
| Files: | 12,299 |
| Messages: | 5,376,794 |
| Posted today: | 2 |