Thousands of Covid- 19 Booster vaccine is unused and outdated.
Now it’s time to offer them to anyone who wants a second booster recommended for additional jabs outside the current group-more than 65 years and immunodeficiency?
Many who won their first booster at the end of last year are wondering about weakened immunity and will take another shot if it’s available.
Professor Gerald Barry, a UCD virologist, said yesterday: Should be opened. “
He pointed out that the population has had repeated Covid-19 infections and it is unclear how this will affect them. “It also causes serious disruption to economic life due to the absence of staff, affecting occasions like holidays and weddings,” he said.
He explained that people who received the booster vaccine six months ago had zero protection from infection at this point, which provided strong protection against serious illness in Covid. continue.
Booster shots reduce the risk of catching Covid-19 immediately after vaccination, but this diminishes over time. Although relatively short-lived, this can affect some of the spreads.
HSE faces a call to give more people jabs, some of whom are sometimes referred to as “worried people,” but at the same time face vaccine fatigue among eligible groups. doing.
So far, only half of those who are recommended for a second booster take advantage of this opportunity.
Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show changes in the uptake of the first boosters in various local constituencies.
In southern Dublin, Rathfarnham-Templeogue intake was 74% of the population aged 12 and over, while in Dublin it was 72% for Blackrock and 69% for Dundrum.
It was as low as 35 percent in Buncrana, County Donegal, 36 percent in Murhadart, western Dublin, and 40 percent in Tallaght.
The Ministry of Health said yesterday that the National Immune Advisory Board (Niac) continued to look for new evidence for booster vaccines for other people in the population with evidence of weakened and weakened immunity. We will make further recommendations in response. ” “.
Dr. Denis McCauley, GP spokesman for the Irish Medical Institution (IMO), said low intakes of donegal may be associated with some people getting vaccines across borders. rice field.
He said his advice to the GP so far is “there is still no great evidence that people under the age of 65 will generally benefit from the second Covid-19 booster.”
“The Minister of Health asked Nyack to consider whether additional boosters were needed in October,” he said.
He said the GP was in favor of being able to give people a Covid-19 booster and a flu shot at the same time.
He also estimated that one-third of the population has been infected with Covid-19 since the beginning of the year and may believe that boosters are not needed.
“Anyone who qualifies as a booster should get it now and get another replenishment in the fall,” he said.
Approximately 300 patients currently hospitalized with Covid-19 are not vaccinated with the Covid-19 vaccine.
In the United States, a committee of independent advisors recommends new formulations of vaccines that specifically target Omicron variants.
This indicates that if these vaccines are approved by the European Medicines Agency, they could probably be used as boosters in late fall.
In the United States, the Vaccine and Related Biopharmaceutical Advisory Board has given a green light to plans to deploy a newly prescribed vaccine this fall.
The current vaccines here are made primarily to fight the original Wuhan virus strain two years ago.
Professor Barry said the BA.5 mutant, a branch of Omicron, is the predominant strain currently prevalent in Ireland. He said it is unclear when the waves will peak this summer and the plateau will be uncertain.
We expect to see improvements from mid-July to late July.
However, it is unclear how the waves will occur due to the limitations of PCR testing and the lack of modeling of what the future predictions of the waves will look like.
Dr. Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser to the UK’s Department of Health and Security, said another Covid wave could occur later this year.
At an online conference of the Royal Society of Medicine, she said winter was never a good thing for the health care system.
“I think this year will be even more challenging than usual,” she said. “The premise of our current plan is that once we get over the current wave we are in, we will see at least one wave during the fall and winter periods.”
Plans for a flu wave are also underway, and Australia is currently experiencing a bad flu season.