The government should offer the rest of the population replacement vaccines that are not included in the booster jab, scientists say.
As Britain is hit by its biggest Covid wave in more than a year, barely half of the 21.5 million people in Britain eligible for a second jab have taken up the offer.
This leaves “millions” of replacement vaccines available for use by the wider population, reducing the risk of infections and serious illness – and generally suppressing the spread of the virus, scientists say.
The number of Covid cases doubled to 2.5 million in the first half of the month, driven by the new JN.1 sub-variant, and is expected to rise significantly in the coming weeks.
Vaccinations are considered the most important defense against the virus because they not only moderately reduce the risk of infection, but also significantly reduce the risk of serious illness if infected.
This in turn reduces the risk of developing long Covid-19.
“Replacement vaccines should be offered to the rest of the population this autumn as we are clearly in quite a large Covid wave,” said Professor Christina Pagel from University College London.
Most children are completely unvaccinated, and most adults under 50 have not received a dose of vaccine since a booster campaign two years ago. This is probably why so many people who contract Covid report feeling very ill, even though it was not their first infection and they were fully vaccinated two years ago.
Professor Pagel said: “NHS England estimates that 21.5 million people in England were eligible for a second vaccination in autumn 2023, but only 11.7 million vaccines were delivered last week.” away if not managed.”
“While it is too late to soften the peak of this wave, making these replacement vaccines available to the general population could at least contain it more quickly and provide greater protection by 2024,” she added.
Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, said: “Given concerns about new and emerging Covid variants, now may be the time to extend vaccine eligibility to at least everyone over 50 and open up access to the reintroduction of lateral testing . “We appear to have sufficient supplies of booster vaccines. So why not use them to improve access instead of letting them expire and throwing them away?”
Professor Rowland Kao from Edinburgh also supports giving away unused second jabs, saying: “I would use a priority system and pick the next highest risk group first.”
Swansea University’s Simon Williams is concerned about the overall decline in second-vaccination rates. “Vaccination rates are lower than last year, partly because eligibility criteria have been tightened only for those over 65 rather than those over 50 – but even for everyone over 65, vaccination rates are lower compared with last year,” he said.
“And for other groups, including vulnerable people under 65 and those in health and social care, coverage is significantly lower than in the past. This means we have a high-risk population that is at greater risk than before.”
The government was criticized for scrapping free Covid and flu jabs for adults under 65 in September, meaning 12 million eligible people aged 50 to 64 will no longer be able to get the jab.
Of the 21.5 million people who received a second shot this fall, only 11.7 million, or 54 percent, received the shot, officials said.
About 7.8 million, or 70 percent, of the 11.1 million people over 65 who were offered a vaccine took up the offer.
Meanwhile, participation rates are much lower among eligible people under 65 – people with weakened immune systems, frontline health and care workers, and home carers of vulnerable people. Of the 10.4 million people in this category, 3.9 million, or 38 percent, had a fall remedy.
Although 9.8 million people have not taken up the offer of a second vaccination, the number of replacements is expected to be lower as coverage was generally expected to be well below 100 percent.
Although it is unclear how many spare doses are expected in the “millions”, according to Professor Pagel.
The Department of Health and Human Services was asked about the number of unused doses and the ability to offer them to people who are not currently eligible.
A department spokesman said: “By autumn 2023, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization has recommended, based on the latest scientific evidence, that eligible groups for flu and Covid-19 vaccination include adults over 65 years of age and people with an underlying medical condition. .” . Conditions.
“Everyone who qualified received a freefall booster.”
Source: I News
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