Immunologists push for increase in testing and more widespread vaccine booster rollout as new variant, XEC, emerges
Covid is on the rise in England, and experts have warned that more must be done to prevent and control infections after a “capitulation to the virus”.
Prof Danny Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College London, said those working in the field were perplexed by the current attitude to the battle against Covid, as the latest figures showed an increase in hospital admissions.
The latest data for England from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) showed that hospital admissions increased to 3.71 per 100,000 population for the week between 16 and 22 September 2024, compared with 2.56 per 100,000 the previous week.
The percentage of people with symptoms who have tested positive for Covid, based on tests at sentinel “spotter” laboratories, has also risen in the last week to 11.8% compared with 9.1% in the previous week.
I think most people don’t realize just how important that first part is. Many seem to believe a dose will keep them safe (and no longer dangerous to others) for at least a year, but that’s a mistake. Even our best Covid vaccines don’t protect for years or decades like the vaccines we’re accustomed to from childhood.
Immunity from these new shots wanes rapidly, reaching less than 20% effectiveness after just 6 months.
Keep in mind that being immunized protects you from developing worse conditions, not from getting it at all. Which also means you can absolutely be a carrier to others, you just won’t have it at a bad level for as long to be contagious. And the new strain is apparently more contagious (but possibly less of the rest) this time. Just wanted to add that in, because some people read the “immun” part and assume they can’t get anything. Avoiding infection is always the best way, with vaccination as protection if/when you do get it anyway.
not exactly true, it does help prevent infection and transmission. not 100% but significantly.
https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/preventing-transmission-never-required-covid-vaccines-initial-approval-pfizer-2024-02-12/
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abl4292
i think the unfortunate reality is that most people are never going to get yearly-ish vaccines.
UNLESS it’s made very easy for them, like at work. that’s what i would be pushing for as an employer, its in my best interest to keep my employees healthy after all. bring in a provider to give shots for free in the office.
my wife works for a fairly liberal non profit. luckily they are mostly remote now, but they have a massive conference coming up soon and i am shocked that they haven’t been encouraging vaccines leading up to it. i mention to my wife every year she should suggest it but it never seems to go anywhere.
In my country the vaccine is unavailable publicly or privately to most people. I’m considering travelling to try to buy it. It’s fucking insane. I can buy a vaccine for pretty much anything else.
Which does raise the question, if the mRNA route is a sufficient solution in the long run. IIRC coronaviruses are supposed to be much less active in mutating compared to influenza. The reason why influenze requires a new shot every year is because it is a new variation every year.
It is simply not viable to vaccinate large parts of the population every six months. And quite frankly there couldn’t be a better propaganda for anti-vaxxer than telling people to get the shot twice a year.