UK - Most vulnerable to be offered spring COVID-19 booster

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

 

JCVI advises vaccine top-up for over-75s, immunosuppressed and residents in care homes for older adults

 

"The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has confirmed its advice for a 2023 spring coronavirus (COVID-19) booster programme.

...

The committee has since advised that a spring booster dose should be offered to:

• adults aged 75 years and over
• residents in a care home for older adults
• individuals aged 5 years and over who are immunosuppressed

 

Eligible individuals will be offered the vaccine around 6 months after their previous dose and NHS England will confirm operational details for the programme in due course."

 

(more)

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/most-vulnerable-to-be-offered-spring-covid-19-booster

 

 

 

 

 

[TorquayFan]

I will be in the UK soon and I'm over 75 but I won't be taking up the NHS on this offer.

 

I noticed recently - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11775169/Death-rates-NOT-higher-Covid-vaccinated-Brits.html and https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/unvaccinated-more-likely-to-have-heart-attack-stroke-after-covid-study-finds/

 

However my simple view remains that the current vaccines being offered are poorly targeted at current variants and I am not quite reassured on the issue of possible vaccine damage - (I had unpleasant symptoms after my 4th - 50% Moderna aspirated).

 

My 'faith' is placed now in natural immunity after being infected in 2020 and 2022 and 5000iu of Vitamin D3 daily. And trying to stay fit generally.

 

Anyway, that's until a much improved vaccine becomes available, when I may think again.

 

MMmmmmm

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2023 by TorquayFan

[248900_1469958220]

51 minutes ago, TorquayFan said:

I will be in the UK soon and I'm over 75 but I won't be taking up the NHS on this offer.

 

I noticed recently - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11775169/Death-rates-NOT-higher-Covid-vaccinated-Brits.html and https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/unvaccinated-more-likely-to-have-heart-attack-stroke-after-covid-study-finds/

 

However my simple view remains that the current vaccines being offered are poorly targeted at current variants and I am not quite reassured on the issue of possible vaccine damage - (I had unpleasant symptoms after my 4th - 50% Moderna aspirated).

 

My 'faith' is placed now in natural immunity after being infected in 2020 and 2022 and 5000iu of Vitamin D3 daily. And trying to stay fit generally.

 

Anyway, that's until a much improved vaccine becomes available, when I may think again.

 

MMmmmmm

 

 

 

Now, theres a person using logic. The vaccines should have only ever been targetting at the vulnerable....injecting kids with this stuff is totally insane. 75 years old....sure knock yourself out!!

[TorquayFan]

248. . .

 

I see from one of Campbell's latest that the UK Govt still have material on line suggesting that transmission is prevented by the vaccines and broadly, USA authorities continue to recommend boosters for all including babies 6 months and older. MMmmmmm

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, TorquayFan said:

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/unvaccinated-more-likely-to-have-heart-attack-stroke-after-covid-study-finds/

 

You might have quoted from your link above for others to read:

 

Who's dying suddenly now? —

Unvaccinated more likely to have heart attack, stroke after COVID, study finds

 

Being fully vaccinated reduced the risk by about 41 percent.

 

A bout of COVID-19 is known to increase a person's long-term risks of having a major cardiovascular event, such as a heart attack or stroke. But being fully vaccinated or even partially vaccinated appears to bring that risk down, according to a study published this week in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

...

Overall, the researchers found that being vaccinated—fully or partially—was linked to fewer cardiac events in the six months following a case of COVID-19.

 

After adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, and time since the pandemic began, the researchers found that being fully vaccinated reduced the risk of having a major cardiac event by about 41 percent, while being partially vaccinated reduced the risk by about 24 percent.

 

(more)

 

https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/02/unvaccinated-more-likely-to-have-heart-attack-stroke-after-covid-study-finds/

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

54 minutes ago, TorquayFan said:

 the UK Govt still have material on line suggesting that transmission is prevented by the vaccines

There continues to be good scientific evidence that COVID vaccines, even for Omicron variants, continue to REDUCE the chances of catching the virus in the months after administration.

 

So the correct info is not prevent 100%, but reduce your odds or HELP prevent infection. But that protection, just like protection from prior COVID infections, does wane over time, which is the reason for the renewed boosters campaign.

 

Monovalent COVID booster protects well against Omicron, but it wanes over 6 months

 

March 3, 2023

 

"The monovalent (single-strain) COVID-19 vaccine booster was 74% effective against Omicron infection compared with the primary vaccine series for 3 months, but protection waned to 42% from 3 to 6 months and 36% after 6 months, estimates a study published yesterday in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses.

...

The study spanned the predominance of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, primarily the BA.2 and BA.5 substrains, and was conducted before the availability of the updated bivalent (two-strain) COVID-19 booster."

...

"Increasing bivalent booster uptake should be a priority to increase protection likely lost due to waning immunity and antigenic change of circulating viruses," they wrote.

 

(more)

 

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/monovalent-covid-booster-protects-well-against-omicron-it-wanes-over-6-months

Edited March 9, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, TorquayFan said:

Anyway, that's until a much improved vaccine becomes available,

 

For the above mentioned spring and subsequent booster campaigns, the UK is planning to use the newer bivalent version of the vaccines, which also target the Omicron strains.

 

"The JCVI has advised the following vaccines may be used in the 2023 spring programme:

• Pfizer-BioNTech bivalent
• Moderna bivalent
• Sanofi/GSK monovalent (beta variant)
• Novavax monovalent (wild-type variant) – only for use when alternative products are not considered clinically suitable

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/most-vulnerable-to-be-offered-spring-covid-19-booster

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

It's worth noting that the U.S., contrary to the U.K., has adopted much broader eligibility guidelines for people to receive the newer, bivalent vaccines... basically almost everyone with the following guidelines:

 

"The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent is authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 5 years of age and older at least two months after completion of either primary vaccination with any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine or receipt of the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine."

 

AND

 

"The Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, Bivalent is authorized for use as single booster dose in children 6 months through 5 years of age at least two months after completion of a primary series with the monovalent Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine.  It is also authorized for use as a single booster dose in individuals 6 years of age and older at least two months after completion of either primary vaccination with any authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccine, or receipt of the most recent booster dose with any authorized or approved monovalent COVID-19 vaccine."

 

https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-bivalent-vaccine-boosters

 

Also worth noting, that while case counts, hospitalizations and COVID deaths have been declining in recent weeks, the U.S. is still running about 330 COVID deaths per day and 3,300+ new COVID hospitalization per day...

 

About 53.7 million people, or only 16.2% of the U.S. population, have thus far received an updated booster dose.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html

Edited March 9, 2023 by TallGuyJohninBKK