Everyone is talking about third doses, but there seems to be little mention of those that had only the one dose Jansssen vaccine.
ive seen reports saying all is ok, nothing to worry about and others saying that it is pretty much useless against Delta.
The problem is that the media will pick up any such studies and run with them uncritically so for the layperson it is impossible to say who's right. All of the vaccines do their job against serious illness, and the body will now recognise COVID.
A lot of talk that everyone will need a shot of mRNA vaccine before the winter. So, those who didn’t get Pfizer or moderna will probably be prioritised.
but that's it, it is all talk at the moment.
As the UK hasn't used the Janssen vaccine, there is no data coming out regarding its efficacy against Delta. As over 200,000 people have had it here, it would be good if the Irish government did some sort of analysis so we cold see how it is performing.
Two points about booster shots:
I thought Delta causes, in general, more mild disease? Seen the HSE saying there are more mild symptoms with it and some people questioning whether the disease is waning. How is it the CDC have said it’s more lethal? The death rates are even lower for it aren’t they?
Even if Delta is milder it is still likely to be a problem for high risk groups. Our profile of those unvaccinated is very different to the US, who have a lot more in older groups and a lower level of vaccination, very low in some places.
I think it would be sensible to plan now for a third shot for everyone in the autumn. It may turn out to be unnecessary but we can’t afford to wait. The elderly and vulnerable got their shots first so vaccine protection will wane for them before everyone else.
It's taken us what 8 months to get 70% of adults vaccinated, how are we supposed to give people a 3rd jab by the Autumn?
Pfizer just starting trials on the boosters shortly. Might be a good idea to see what the science says first.
That might be too late. We need to sort out the vaccine supply and plan the third shot roll out now.
Even those actively planning to use them, like Israel, have been very selective and look to be targeting high risk only. There is not yet a case for another blanket coverage. As has been mentioned upthread we now need to be looking at getting the rest of the world as fast as we can, first.
That is fine, but it is a gamble for us. We are very trigger happy with the lockdowns so it won’t take much to push us back into level 5 again. Not sure most people would be happy to be back into lockdown because we have sent vaccines overseas. Planning the third shot would be the most cautious move which would come with little expense compared to the potential alternative.
Where's the gamble? 26 in ICU today.
The gamble is we have no idea what the picture will look like in December or January. The most vulnerable will have been vaccinated for a year at that stage and the protection may wane (unknown). There may be no problem but I think we should just get the third shot sorted for this winter as a cautious approach.
This seems to be a common point of confusion. The initial presenting symptoms of Delta on average have changed to more represent a cold. However these are just initial symptoms. Delta still will progress to moderate and severe disease for minority percentages of those who contract it.
The most vulnerable will be first on the list but no decisions have been made about a booster programme. It is doubtful that anyone else will be unless you want to be. It is no longer a novel coronavirus.
Vaccine prices going up
Israel issuing a third pfizer shot appears to be a government decision and goes against Pfizer official guidelines, also against the wishes of the fda, cdc and also the who.
Until at least till Pfizer complete there medical trials.
It’s a calculated risk. If two shots don’t result in significant side effects then three shots are unlikely to be harmful. Worse case they probably will just waste money. The potential benefits though are significant. I think it is a good decision for this winter. Next winter we will have better data.
Paul Reid has stated today that they are now planning for booster shots with flu vaccinations in Autumn.
Is the hse plan on booster shots only going ahead if ecdc recommends it.
That makes sense. There's a general background immunity to the flu, but, according to virologists, due to the lockdowns last winter, people were not exposed to the flu to the same degree as in a 'normal' year, which could lead to more numerous and more severe flu cases this winter, due to a weakened immune response.
i was just restating what Reid said so don't know the answer to that .
Amazing really how some countries have just seemed to fall asleep the last few months and slowly waking up.
For the size of the USA, with all the labs etc... they have done a piss poor job of sequencing. Honestly I don't think they care about them.
No covid test tells you that you have Delta, it just tells you that it is Covid 19
USA does 620,000 tests / day
Say 100,000 are positive
1.4% are sequenced so 1400, which determines what variant it is. So 98,600 / day don't really know what they have.
They literally do not have a clue of what is actually going on. The whole idea of the mass testing and sequencing is to use it as a weapon before it arrives not fu##ing after. Countries have had a year to put this in place if they never had it
Cases in the UK down to 21k today.
Still early day's but got to put this up.
If the proportion of tests they sequence is representative they have a very strong picture of what is going on on a population level
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