Italy is set to become the first European country to make a COVID-19 “Green Pass” mandatory for all workers. It is a digital or paper certificate showing someone has received at least one vaccine dose, tested negative or recently recovered from the disease. Officials told Reuters that the decree was expected to come into force on October 15 for both public and private sector workers. Any worker who fails to present a valid pass will be suspended on no pay, but cannot be sacked. “The green pass is an important tool to deal with this serious situation. In such a serious situation we need effective solutions.” “In my opinion it is not fair, because if I am a free citizen, I can decide whether or not to get a green pass. When there is an obligation, we no longer live in a democracy, but in a dictatorship. So I do not agree.” There have been sporadic protests in recent weeks against the growing pressure to get a jab. But most political parties in the country have backed mandatory COVID passes, hoping it will prevent further economic lockdowns. While the employers’ federation also welcomed the move, unions have been lukewarm and are demanding that tests should be given freely to those who refuse to be vaccinated. Officials have pushed back on this, saying it would encourage people to keep on shunning vaccines. Around 74% of Italy’s population have had at least one COVID-19 shot and 68% are fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 booster vaccine campaign begins in England… France suspends 3,000 health staff as Europe targets vaccine refusal
LONDON (Reuters) – England launched its COVID-19 booster vaccination campaign on Thursday, the National Health Service (NHS) said, after officials and the government gave the go-ahead for the programme earlier in the week. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday outlined how the booster programme for over-50s and other priority groups will form a key plank of his plan to navigate the winter without further coronavirus lockdowns. Booster vaccinations will be given at least six months after people received their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, meaning the rollout will roughly follow the original priority list, and start with the oldest, most vulnerable and health workers. NHS England said that hospital hubs had started vaccinating health workers, with full rollout to the community set to begin next week. “It is brilliant to see that the first booster jabs are being rolled out today,” health minister Sajid Javid said. “I urge everyone who is eligible to come forward for their booster when invited, to prolong the protection that the vaccine offers those most at risk as we approach the winter months.” Britain’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommended that Pfizer/BioNTech’s shot be used in the booster campaign, or alternatively a half-dose of Moderna’s vaccine. The government also decided this week to move ahead with mass vaccination of children aged 12-15, which the NHS said would begin in schools next week.
France suspends 3,000 health staff as Europe targets vaccine refusal
PARIS (Reuters) – Hospitals, care homes and health centres have suspended around 3,000 workers across France for failing to comply with mandatory COVID vaccination, the government said on Thursday, as countries around Europe weigh how far to go to combat the pandemic https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/european-nations-plans-coping-with-covid-19-2021-09-15. While Italy is set to announce later on Thursday that proof of vaccination or a negative test will be compulsory for all workers, going further than any other country in the region, the Netherlands plans a similar step – but only to go to bars or clubs https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/dutch-expected-ease-covid-19-measures-introduce-corona-pass-2021-09-14. Britain, meanwhile, says it is highly likely to require front-line health and social care workers in England to be vaccinated as part of a plan https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/uk-likely-require-health-workers-be-vaccinated-against-covid-2021-09-14 to contain the virus during winter. In France, President Emmanuel Macron’s decision in mid-July to require a similar health pass to go anywhere from restaurants to gyms and museums, and make the jab mandatory for health workers, has massively increased vaccination take-up. With the mandate for workers in hospitals and care homes taking effect on Wednesday, its very concrete impact – unvaccinated staff forbidden to work – started to be felt https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-hospital-worker-im-hunger-strike-over-vaccine-mandate-2021-09-16. According to local daily Nice Matin, nearly 450 health workers – out of 7,500 – have been suspended in just one hospital in the city of Nice, in southern France. The government, however, shrugged off the impact. “It hasn’t been chaos, far from it,” Health Minister Olivier Veran told French RTL radio, adding there were 27 million workers in the sector. There have been a few cases where it has affected care, he said, like the use of an MRI being briefly complicated, but most suspended staff work in support roles, limiting the impact. “Most of the suspensions are only temporary … many have decided to get vaccinated as they see that the vaccination mandate is a reality,” Veran said. But unions warn of likely disruptions to care, and just a few absentees in a team is enough to trigger a crisis, Emmanuel Chignon, a care home manager in Bordeaux told Reuters this week, pointing to how hard it was to hire staff https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/french-care-home-some-staff-quit-over-vaccine-mandate-2021-09-15 in the sector. “If we can’t replace the carers who leave, the work will fall on the others, and I fear an unvirtuous circle, with tiredness, exhaustion and an increase in absenteeism,” he said. In Italy, where vaccination for health workers was made mandatory at the end of March, some have been suspended, but with numbers nowhere near those seen in France. As of Sept. 16, some 728 doctors in all of Italy had been suspended for failing to be vaccinated, the Italian doctors’ federation said. Italy is now set to go much further and announce on Thursday that a “Green pass” – showing someone has received at least one vaccine dose, tested negative or recently recovered from the virus – will be mandatory for all public and private sector workers. Failure to have a Green Pass will result in workers being suspended and losing their pay. In other countries, like the Netherlands, opinion polls show a majority of the public favouring mandatory vaccination for health workers, with the workers themselves mostly opposed to it, and the government has said it will not take such measures. However a pass showing proof of vaccination or a recent negative coronavirus test is set to be required there as of Sept 25 to go to bars, restaurants, clubs or cultural events. Although polls have shown that a majority of the Dutch support the measure, the pass is strongly opposed by the around 30% of the population who have so far refused to be vaccinated. Critics say the measure is meant to force people to get the jab.
China fully vaccinates 1 billion people – NHC
Beijing, China — China has fully vaccinated more than one billion people against the coronavirus — 71 percent of its population — official figures showed Thursday. The country had mostly curbed the virus within its borders but is racing to get the vast majority of its population vaccinated as a new outbreak takes hold in the southeast. “As of September 15, 2.16 billion vaccine doses have been administered nationwide,” said National Health Commission spokesman Mi Feng at a press briefing. Chinese health authorities said late last month that 890 million people in China had been fully vaccinated and two billion doses administered. The government has not publicly announced a target for vaccination coverage, but top virologist Zhong Nanshan said last month that the country is likely to have 80 percent of its population inoculated by the end of the year. China is currently battling an outbreak of the Delta variant in the southeastern province of Fujian that has infected almost 200 people so far in three cities, many of whom are schoolchildren. The Fujian cluster is the biggest rebound in weeks and comes after the country declared the Delta variant under control, in a test of China’s “zero-case” approach to the pandemic. China reported 80 new cases on Thursday, of which 49 were domestic transmissions.
White House plans ‘new system’ for international travel
WASHINGTON — White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday the United States is a developing a “new system for international travel” that will include new strong mitigation procedures like contact tracing. the administration does not plan to immediately relax any travel restrictions because of COVID-19 Delta variant cases. “We are exploring considering vaccination requirements for foreign nationals traveling to the United States,” Zients said. Coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Wednesday the United States is a developing a “new system for international travel” that will include new strong mitigation procedures like contact tracing. Zients told the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board Wednesday the administration does not plan to immediately relax any travel restrictions because of COVID-19 Delta variant cases. “We are exploring considering vaccination requirements for foreign nationals traveling to the United States,” Zients said. he idea was shelved, but top White House officials say that proposal and similar ones are still under consideration – including, potentially, a broader vaccine mandate that would include domestic air travel. “We’re discussing it,” Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said about the idea of a broader requirement in an interview. “It’s on the table for discussion.”
Third Pfizer shot boosts immunity to 95%
A third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine could offer strong protection against the Indian ‘Delta’ variant, data reveals, as a separate study finds protection provided by the vaccine could wane after six months. New data released by the company on Wednesday showed antibody levels increased five-fold among people ages 18 to 55 who were given the booster shot. The third dose was especially effecting for the elderly, with antibody levels spiking 11-fold among people aged 65 to 85 who had already received the standard two doses. In the slides published online, the researchers wrote there there is ‘estimated potential for up to 100-fold increase in Delta neutralization post-dose three compared to pre-dose three.’
Data from Pfizer shows that the third dose of the company’s COVID vaccine can increase antibodies to fight the Delta variant 11-fold in people 65 to 85 The Delta variant continues to spread across the country, making up at least 83 percent of all new infections. Pfizer produces the most commonly used vaccine in the U.S., having been administered over 190 million times, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Early adopters of the vaccine may soon has their immunity to the virus slightly diminished. Research, which has not been peer-reviewed, led by Pfizer and Syracuse University in New York finds that the vaccine was 91 percent effective in preventing the virus for six months. It continues to drop at that rate, researchers say, the vaccine could drop below 50 percent efficacy 18 months after administration. Those who received the vaccine first may have already had its efficacy drop, meaning a third dose could be required soon.
China (DNA Modified) gain-of-function research Funded by Fauci and the NIH… proof
Stalin said “When we hang the capitalists they will sell us the rope we use.” In this case we gave them the money for the rope
The Wuhan Institute of Virology and the nearby Wuhan University Center for Animal Experiment, along with their collaborator, the U.S.-based nonprofit EcoHealth Alliance, have engaged in what the U.S. government defines as “gain-of-function research of concern,” (Genetic Modification) intentionally making viruses more pathogenic or transmissible in order to study them. Grant money for the controversial experiment came from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is headed by Anthony Fauci. The award to EcoHealth Alliance, a research organization which studies the spread of viruses from animals to humans, included subawards to Wuhan Institute of Virology and East China Normal University. The principal investigator on the grant is EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak, who has been a key voice in the search for Covid-19’s origins.
Several scientists said the NIH recently released documents points to biosafety concerns, highlighting a general lack of oversight for research on pathogens and raising questions about what other information has not been publicly disclosed.
“As a virologist, I personally think creating chimeras of SARS-related bat coronaviruses that are thought to pose high risk to humans entails unacceptable risks,” said Jesse Bloom, who studies the evolution of viruses at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, is a disease caused, like Covid-19, by an airborne coronavirus.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci listens during a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic at the White House on March 26, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
The experiment also raises questions about assertions from Fauci and NIH Director Francis Collins that NIH-funded projects at the Wuhan Institute of Virology did not involve gain-of-function research. In May, Fauci testified before Congress: “The NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.”
Scientists working under a 2014 NIH grant to the EcoHealth Alliance to study bat coronaviruses combined the genetic material from a “parent” coronavirus known as WIV1 with other viruses.
They twice submitted summaries of their work that showed that, when in the lungs of genetically engineered mice, three altered bat coronaviruses at times reproduced far more quickly than the original virus on which they were based. The altered viruses were also somewhat more pathogenic, with one causing the mice to lose significant weight.
The researchers reported, “These results demonstrate varying pathogenicity of SARSr-CoVs with different spike proteins in humanized mice.”But the terms of the grant clearly stipulated that the funding could not be used for gain-of-function experiments. The grant conditions also required the researchers to immediately report potentially dangerous results and stop their experiments pending further NIH review.
According to both the EcoHealth Alliance and NIH, the results were reported to the agency, but NIH determined that rules designed to restrict gain-of-function research did not apply.
Seven consulted scientists who are virologists or work in adjacent fields and hold a range of views on both the ethics of gain-of-function research and the Covid-19 origins search. said that the work appears to meet NIH’s criteria for gain-of-function research. Three experts said that, while they did not have enough knowledge of U.S. policies to comment on whether the research met NIH criteria, the experiment involving humanized mice was unnecessarily risky. One virologist, Vincent Racaniello, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Columbia University, said while he considered the mouse experiment described in the document to clearly fall into the gain-of-function category.
NIH grant for research titled:
Understanding-Risk-Bat-Coronavirus-Emergence-Grant-Notice link below 528 pages
But the group’s bat coronavirus research was focused on the very threat that bat viruses pose to people. Kessler did acknowledge that, while the original bat coronavirus in the experiment did not spread among humans, the research was designed to gauge how bat coronaviruses could evolve to infect humans. Scientists consulted agreed that, whatever title it is given, the newly public experiment raised serious concerns about the safety and oversight of federally funded research. “In my point of view, the debate about the definition of ‘gain-of-function’ has been too much focused on technical aspects,” said Jacques van Helden, a professor of bioinformatics at Aix-Marseille Université. “The real question is whether or not research has the potential to create or facilitate the selection of viruses that might infect humans.” The experiments described in the proposal clearly do have that potential, he said.
NIH spokesperson Elizabeth Deatrick said that the agency had considered the research — and decided not to restrict it under its own rules. “In 2016, NIAID determined that the work was not subject to the Gain-of-Function (GoF) research funding pause and the subsequent HHS P3CO Framework,” Deatrick wrote, referring to criteria put in place in 2017 to guide the agency’s funding decisions about research that involves, or is reasonably anticipated to involve, potential pandemic pathogens.
Paul accused Fauci of lying when he claimed that NIH did not fund gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Experts now say that the documents support the contention that NIH funded gain-of-function work, “There’s no question,” said Racaniello, of Columbia University, who pointed to the decreased weight of the mice infected with the chimeric viruses that was described in the research summaries sent to NIH. “From the weight loss, it’s gain of function. Tony Fauci is wrong saying it’s not.”
The humanized mouse experiment fits with the overall goal of the $3.1 million grant, which was titled “Understanding the Risk of Bat Coronavirus Emergence” and aimed at preventing a pandemic by predicting the circumstances under which a bat coronavirus could evolve to infect humans. The researchers took an ambitious three-pronged approach: screening people with high exposure to wildlife, mathematical modeling, and lab experiments on viruses. Peter Daszak, the EcoHealth Alliance president, has worked closely with scientists in China for years, and roughly $750,000 of the grant was allocated for the Wuhan Institute of Virology. An additional nearly $300,000 went to East China Normal University, where researchers did field sampling.
In a 2005 paper, Daszak’s team showed that the first SARS virus originated in bats. Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, is caused by a coronavirus that emerged in 2012 and also believed to come from bats, which are now a prime target for virologists trying to understand and combat emerging diseases. Daszak has long maintained that his research is critical to preventing outbreaks.
The research on the bat viruses in Wuhan showed that infecting live animals with altered viruses can have unpredictable consequences. A report to NIH on the project’s progress in the year ending in May 2018 described scientists creating new coronaviruses by changing parts of WIV1 and exposing genetically engineered mice to the new chimeric viruses.
Research published in 2017 in the journal PLOS Pathogen showed that, in cells in a laboratory, similar chimeric viruses reproduced less effectively than the original. NIH cited that research as one of the reasons the moratorium on gain-of-function research of concern didn’t apply to this experiment. “It was a loss of function, not a gain of function,” the email from NIH explained.
(NIH also pointed out that the changes to the chimeric viruses “would not be anticipated to increase virulence or transmissibility in humans.”) Nick Bit: They sure as shit got that one wrong!!
Inside the lungs of the humanized mice, however, the novel viruses appear to have reproduced far more quickly than the original virus that was used to create them, according to a bar graph shown in the documents. The viral load in the lung tissue of the mice was, at certain points, up to 10,000 times higher in the mice infected with the altered viruses than in those infected with WIV1.
over to humans and cause widespread disease.”
Scientists reviewing research said the jump in viral load indicated that the modified RNA virus could replicate far more rapidly than the original in the lungs of the mice, likely leading to increased pathogenicity and spread. Another figure in the documents suggests that at least one of the altered viruses not only enhanced viral reproduction, but also caused the humanized mice to lose more weight than those exposed to the original virus — a measure of the severity of illness.
A graph from a report on NIH-funded research in Wuhan shows viral load in lung tissues of humanized mice.
The enhanced growth of the chimeric coronaviruses in the humanized mice was, at one point, up to 4 log greater — or 10,000 times — the rate of the original virus. But there are no indications the research was stopped.In fact, the bat coronavirus grant was renewed for a five-year period in 2019, although the Trump administration suspended funding in April 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic and spiraling concerns about its origins.
The practice of making chimeric viruses in order to study how they might become more contagious was under scrutiny long before the pandemic. Proponents of such gain-of-function research argued that it can help virologists better understand and defend against natural outbreaks. But critics said that they were unreasonably dangerous. Stuart Newman, a professor of cell biology who directs the developmental biology laboratory at New York Medical College. “Making chimeric coronaviruses, mixing and matching RBDs [a part of the virus that allows it to attach to receptors] and spike proteins is exactly the scenario imagined by many lab-leak scenario proponents,” said Newman. “The fact that this was an established research paradigm in the Wuhan lab … definitely makes the laboratory origin more plausible.”
“The contents of the grants raise serious questions about the review processes and oversight relating to risky pathogen research,” said Alina Chan, a Boston-based scientist. Nick Note: Of course the Covid19 virus was enhanced if not created at the Wuhan lab, See for yourself, NIH funding document below…
U.S. Army says soldiers who refuse COVID-19 vaccine could be dismissed
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© Reuters/QUINN GLABICKI FILE PHOTO: July 4th events are held in Bristol, Rhode Island After the Food and Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in August, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ordered https://media.defense.gov/2021/Aug/25/2002838826/-1/-1/0/MEMORANDUM-FOR-MANDATORY-CORONAVIRUS-DISEASE-2019-VACCINATION-OF-DEPARTMENT-OF-DEFENSE-SERVICE-MEMBERS.PDF that all active duty service members must get vaccinated.
The Army said it had begun implementing this order in late August, adding that soldiers could request an exemption on legitimate medical, religious or administrative grounds. However, commanders, command sergeants major, first sergeants and officers in Command Select List positions who refuse to be vaccinated and are not pending an exemption request would face suspension and relief if they refuse to comply, the Army said in a statement. “While soldiers who refuse the vaccine will first be counseled by their chain of command and medical providers, continued failure to comply could result in administrative or non-judicial punishment – to include relief of duties or discharge,” it said. “This is quite literally a matter of life and death for our soldiers, their families and the communities in which we live,” U.S. Army Surgeon General Raymond Scott Dingle said, citing concern over the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. As of last week, the U.S. Department of Defense had reported https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Spotlight/Coronavirus-DOD-Response over 353,000 COVID-19 cases across its personnel and more than 450 deaths. The Army now expects its active duty units to be fully vaccinated by Dec. 15, and its Reserve and National Guard units by June 30 of next year.
Pfizer to apply for approval for giving vaccine to kids
- Pfizer and BioNTech are planning to seek approval of their COVID-19 vaccine in kids between ages five and ‘in the coming weeks’
- Dr Özlem Türeci, chief physician for BioNTech, said the vaccine is the same approved for adolescents and adults, but a smaller dose
- The FDA says clinical trial data must include a monitoring period of at least two months after the final dose
- Currently, the shot is only approved for use in those aged 12 and older in the U.S. and in Europe
- Parents are split 50/50 over whether or not to vaccinate their kids because children make up 0.1% of all Covid deaths in the U.S.
Pfizer and BioNTech are soon planning to seek approval for their COVID-19 vaccine in children aged five to 11. Dr Özlem Türeci, chief physician for BioNTech, told German news site Der Spiegel that the companies are set to shortly release results from their study in kids under age 12 and will ask for the shot to be approved for emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other agencies. ‘In the coming weeks, we will present the results of our study on the five-to-11-year- olds worldwide to the authorities and apply for approval of the vaccine for this age group,’ Türeci said.
She added that the vaccine formula is the same as that approved for adolescents and adults, but that the dose size is smaller.
Currently, the Pfizer vaccine is only approved for children aged 12 and older in both the U.S. and the European Union. Parents and doctors have been debating about whether or not to inoculate children because they make up 0.1 percent of all Covid deaths in the U.S.
Dr Özlem Türeci, chief physician for BioNTech, said the vaccine is the same as that approved for adolescents and adults, but a smaller dose. Pictured: Marisol Gerardo, 9, is held by her mother as she gets the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine during a clinical trial at Duke Health in Durham, North Carolina, April 2021
A few hours after the new from Pfizer and BioNTech, the FDA said that clinical trial data submitted by vaccine manufacturers must include a monitoring period of at least two months after the final dose to ensure safety. ‘Children are not small adults – and issues that may be addressed in pediatric vaccine trials can include whether there is a need for different doses or different strength formulations of vaccines already used for adults,’ FDA Acting Commissioner Dr Janet Woodcock said in a joint statement with Dr Peter Marks, director of Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Around 4,500 younger kids have been enrolled at nearly 100 clinical trial sites in 26 U.S. states, Finland, Poland and Spain. According to clinicaltrials.gov, the study will work similarly to the way it did in older children and adults. About half of the ages five-to-11 group will receive two doses 21 days apart and the other half will be given placebo shots. The team will test the safety, tolerability immune response generated by the vaccine, by drawing blood prior to dose 1 and six months after dose 2. If the vaccine is proven to be safe and effective, the trial will be unblinded at the six-month follow-up, meaning those who received the placebo will be allowed to get the inoculation. Children are often the last group to be tested during clinical trials because they are not merely little adults. Their bodies and immune systems behave differently, meaning they might have different treatment needs. What’s more, children may need different doses or needle sizes depending on their height, weight and age – which is why most children are only vaccinated after safety has been well-documented in the adult population. In fact, Pfizer announced that it selected lower doses for COVID-19 vaccine trials in children than are given to teenagers and adults. Those aged 12 and older receive two 30 microgram (μg) doses of the vaccine, However, children between ages five and 11 will be given 10 μg doses and kids from six months to four years old will receive three μg doses. The vaccines have been proven to be highly effective in adults and teenagers, but many parents are not enthusiastic about vaccinating their children. In April 2021 poll, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, parents were asked if they would get their child immunized once a COVID-19 vaccine is authorized and available for their child’s age group. Three in 10 parents – 29 percent – of children under 18 said they would get their child vaccinated ‘right away’ while 15 percent said they only plan to vaccinate their children if the school requires it and 19 percent said their child will definitely not be getting vaccinated. A July 2021 survey, conducted by CS Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health at Michigan Medicine last month, found that 39 percent of parents said their children already gotten a coronavirus shot. However, 40 percent of parents also said it was ‘unlikely’ that their children would be getting vaccinated.’ According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than five million children have been infected by COVID-19 since the pandemic began.
Radio Free Wall Street
The Whole World Is Giving The Third Booster Shot
Surprise, surprise, surprise… The U.S. is not. I wonder why? We explore this mystery in the current edition of Radio Free Wall Street.
Booster shots to be offered next week in UK
Covid booster jabs will begin to be offered across the UK from next week.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said he had accepted advice from the JCVI that around 30m people should be offered a third dose – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have followed suit.
The booster should be given at least six months after a second dose – with the Pfizer jab recommended.
Those eligible include over-50s, younger adults with health conditions and frontline health and care workers. Mr Javid made the announcement in the Commons as part of an autumn and winter plan for managing Covid in England. Scotland will begin offering booster jabs for the broader group from Monday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said. She said the programme “was intended to prolong the protection” of vaccines and will run alongside the flu vaccination programme.
- Covid deaths rare among fully vaccinated – ONS
- No plans for October lockdown, says government
- Pfizer and AZ approved as Covid booster vaccines
The recommendation from the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) comes amid concern about waning immunity. There are some signs protection offered by the vaccine may start dropping off several months after the second dose – with the most vulnerable groups most at risk of this. In his statement, Mr Javid told MPs: “There is evidence that the protection offered by Covid-19 vaccines reduces over time, particularly older people who are at greater risk, so booster doses are an important way of keeping the virus under control for the long term.” The JCVI said it was still unclear exactly how much protection does slip, but it wanted to take a precautionary approach and ensure the most vulnerable people maintain high levels of protection. The advice is separate to the recent recommendation of third doses for people with severely weakened immune systems – something that is already being rolled out.
Those eligible for a booster jab include:
- Those living in residential care homes for older adults
- All adults aged 50 years or over
- Frontline health and social care workers
- All those aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19
- Adult household contacts of immuno suppressed individuals