Do you think there will be yearly boosters and restrictions for those who don't comply?

[Jobseeker19]

I feel like the goal posts are constantly being moved and that we are being asked to do more and more.

Will people who have had 2 vaccines be classed as not fully vaccinated anymore?

Possibly, who knows? It’s not really changing the goal-posts though - it’s dealing and adapting to a changing situation. I have the flu jab every year, I don’t see the difference.

I am sure BJ said yesterday that they were considering whether to make it so that people would only be considered fully vaccinated after the booster. I don't think it is changing the goalposts though, surely it's a constantly evolving situation? If they didn't change then we would all still be locked in our houses with restaurants and cafes shut down like March 2020.

People who don't have the flu aren't restricted in travel and work opportunities though.
So I do think its different. Also with the annual flu jab it is mainly aimed at vulnerable people or people who work within the health care industry.

It’s going to be interesting how all the vaccine zealots treat people who don’t have the boosters but have had the 2 x doses.

Are they anti vaxxers too now?

The whole thing is a disaster.

Yearly boosters and no restrictions for those that don’t have it would be my guess.

YANBU.

What do you mean by changing the goalposts? We are living through a novel virus pandemic not following a well trodden path

No one can possibly say what will happen in the future. Look around the world, different countries are dealing differently with their circumstances

Only hindsight will tell us what happened next.

It'll all depend on how full the hospitals are, and what new variants crop up.

I don't think they care about case numbers now, or deaths. But care very much about demands on NHS

Vaccination reduces the severity of the disease, and keeps people out of hospital.

I think we’ll end up with yearly boosters and no restrictions, like flu.

I don’t think they can place restrictions on people without the booster until the booster is available for everyone surely?

@JumperandJacket

I think we’ll end up with yearly boosters and no restrictions, like flu.

And for people who wont take the boosters?

At a guess @Porfre the same thing that happens to people who don't have flu jabs.

I wouldn't be surprised if they end up being six monthly boosters.

I don’t think it’s really a case of changing goalposts/ this is a virus which is constantly adapting.

The response of authorities to a pandemic is never going to be etched in stone.

It’s quite clear that efficacy from the vaccines does start to decline at a certain point so obviously that needs to be topped up to protect people. I don’t see why that’s controversial really

They will probably need to be available even if paid got travel abroad. Not sure about restrictions here. I suppose could mean England, Wales, Scotland or NI.

@MisgenderedSwan

I am sure BJ said yesterday that they were considering whether to make it so that people would only be considered fully vaccinated after the booster. I don't think it is changing the goalposts though, surely it's a constantly evolving situation? If they didn't change then we would all still be locked in our houses with restaurants and cafes shut down like March 2020.

Well people are only fully vaccinated after the booster. And the situation might well change again as our knowledge of the virus and the vaccinations increases over time.

It's a good thing that the govt keep changing the rules. It shows they are reacting to a developing situation.

Pandemics historically are finite, usually the virus mutates to become less dangerous.

Until then, there isn't another option unfortunately.

I don't think it is changing the goalposts though, surely it's a constantly evolving situation?

This depends on what you were told when you gave consent for the first goal surely? If it was "this is what we currently think" then that's fine, if it was "do this and we'll do …" then that's quite different. Particularly if the reason for the "constantly evolving situation" is simply you getting it wrong about how effective the vaccine was.

No-one knows yet, it depends how well the boosters work. The data just isn't available yet. It looks like the third jab is very effective and lasts longer, but we just need to give it time and see how things go.

I expect it to be yearly boosters available but no mandate to get them unless you're NHS/care staff, and no restrictions. But other countries might be stricter, so you might need the yearly booster to visit, say, Germany. Or New Zealand.

It looks like the third jab is very effective and lasts longer

Do you have a citation? And how can longer be known, no-one has had a 3rd dose less than 3 months ago and we were told repeatedly that the two dose strategy was highly effective with no sign of waning at 3 months after it?

Over-selling these low quality vaccines will harm trust, trust will harm future more effective vaccines for both covid and other infections.

*I feel like the goal posts are constantly being moved and that we are being asked to do more and more.

Will people who have had 2 vaccines be classed as not fully vaccinated anymore?*

Why wouldn't the goal posts keep moving?

This is a moving situation.

I'd liken it not to moving goal posts, but to musical chairs - when the music stops, they add another chair.

I'm in Scotland, and quite content to follow guidelines. My heart however sinks every time they add another chair (mitigation), not because i'm opposed, but because I know it'll be a poorly applied shambles.

So no OP, you're not BU. I think many of us are, understandably, jaded and fatigued living this 'are we coming, or are we going' way of life.

Actually I think part of the problem is the constant seeking for quick fix band aid solutions that will bring the pandemic to an end. Clearly we will need permanent, high quality improvements to ventilation in hospitals, schools, large public buildings and perhaps any places where people can't mask (eg restaurants). Instead we have CONSTANT tinkering with the rules in search of quick fixes.

With proper mitigation and a vaccination programme giving people adequate coverage that should be enough for normal life to resume (my hunch is vaccination will end up being annual, or perhaps six monthly for vulnerable populations but that's a layperson's guess). There is likely to be more testing before international travel.

By the way diseases don't really get less deadly over time - not that often anyway. It's just as possible for a disease to get more deadly, and most diseases just stay about the same. People got smallpox in ancient Egypt and in 1970s Bangladesh. The disease killed people all that time until it was wiped out by vaccination. Cholera would be just as dangerous if it got in the UK water supply today as it was in victorian London. We have better treatments now but the pathogen isn't less virulent I don't think.

@AllThatFancyPaintsAsFair

At a guess *@Porfre* the same thing that happens to people who don't have flu jabs.

I don’t think anything does happen to people who don’t have flu jabs…

Yes, lve read quite a lot about pandemics getting better over time.

It appears this is an 18th century myth. Most pandemics don’t from what I’ve seen.