Booster shots for over 50s in the UK

The British government announced on Tuesday, 14 September, that a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine would be given to caregivers over 50 next week, in the hope that further confinement this winter could be avoided.

People aged 16 to 49 years with health problems that make them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 and adults exposed to immunocompromised people are also targeted by this booster program.

autumn and winter “in favor of covid-19»

«We must be vigilant as autumn and winter present favorable conditions for COVID-19 and other seasonal viruses“, warned Health Minister Sajid Javid in front of deputies in the House of Commons.

«Kids are back to school, more people are returning to work, changing weather means more people are spending time indoors“, he listed, also mentioning potential pressure on hospital services from other seasonal viruses such as influenza.

The vaccine booster program aims to avoid re-establishing strict social and economic restrictions such as the three lockdowns imposed on the country since March 2020, according to the minister. The government has already given up applying vaccination passports to enter nightclubs, as envisaged, without ruling it out”FullyHowever, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this winter while presenting his plan to fight Kovid-19 to the press. In the event of a worsening of the pandemic, the government also reserves the right to reintroduce certain measures such as requiring the wearing of masks indoors or recommending teleworking.

30,000 new daily cases of Covid-19

The country, which lifted most anti-coronavirus restrictions in July, is reporting nearly 30,000 new cases of Covid-19 per day, with over 1,000 patients on ventilators. He lamented the more than 134,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Experts at JCVI, the committee that advises the government on its vaccination campaign, recommended the use of a half-dose Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or Moderna as a priority for booster injections.

The injections should be administered at least six months after the administration of the second dose, an interval considered most relevant in terms of vaccine effectiveness. It can only be done with a flu shot, June Raine, chief executive officer of the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), told a press conference.

vaccination, aincredible success»

The COVID-19 vaccination campaign began in the United Kingdom in December 2020, and 81 percent of the population over the age of 16 have received two doses of the vaccine since then. England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam said the campaign “incredible success“, and avoided nearly 24 million cases of COVID-19 and 112,000 deaths. But he warned there could be a cold”occurring“With the return of the seasonal pandemic.

The Health Minister pointed out that in the first half of 2021, almost 99% of deaths from COVID-19 were related to people who had not received two doses of the vaccine against Covid-19. “This shows the importance of our vaccination program“, did he declare.

After a long delay from health officials, the government had already announced on Monday that the vaccination campaign would be expanded to 12-15-year-olds in England from next week. They will get the first and single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

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