To be concerned booster jabs stopped but not flu jabs

[CristinaNov182]

Anyone can have repeated flu jabs, new year / new flu jab. Older people for free, younger pay.

We’re just out of a pandemic but the safe and effective booster jabs won’t be offered to anyone anymore apart the very vulnerable. There is no addendum below that people could just purchase them, nor any such info on internet. As a contrast, the flu jab page mentions you can have this done “privately or through an occupational health scheme”.

Changes to coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine booster doses
After 12 February 2023 you will not be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.

Some people who are at increased risk, for example because of age or certain medical conditions, may be offered a seasonal booster later this year. If you are eligible for this, the NHS will contact you when it’s your turn to get vaccinated.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/find-a-walk-in-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-site/

I wonder why?

“You are NOT being unreasonable “ = it is becoming harder to cover up and explain away the surplus deaths hence let’s stop the boosters

“You are being unreasonable “ = no one cares about their grandma anymore / No one wants to protect grandma anymore / grandma is 💀 so no need to protect her anymore. No immune compromised people exist or no one cares about them. No one is worried about covid. People worry more about the flu etc.

How do you square this decision?

Is flu less of a risk?

I don't think the govt make money from vaccines tbf

You're anti vax? Ah, I thought you were angry the booster was not available.
Personally, I hope to have the joint covid-flu vaccination I had last Autumn this Autumn.
So you think it has been withdrawn due to the conspiracy theory that it has caused more death globally rather than prevented? Nah, I don't buy that - I think as a pp said, we are simply seeing people dying of untreated or undiagnosed conditions.

It's not a big deal either way. If I'm offered it with a flu jab (due to my age) then I'll take the booster - why wouldn't I? But if I'm not offered it, then I'll trust the decision (made by someone far cleverer than me) that boosters are no longer necessary.
Covid is pretty much a minor illness anyway, so decisions do have to be made about whether it is still economically sensible to have mass vaccinations.

But isn’t the death rate from covid far greater than flu?

No

@Morestrangethings

Now?

Doubt it

Your voting makes no sense.

I switch my vote to YABU btw.
I think many voting you aren't being unreasonable think vaccines should be available rather than killing off the populace.

When they changed the definition of a vaccine, you know something fucky is going on. I don't get how people don't smell a rat with the whole thing.

There have been scientific articles suggesting the boosters are both less efficient than previously thought (quite a few people who have had them still caught it), and don’t act as long as previously thought. I don’t know more, but maybe that’s a factor (If there’s uncertainty I would imagine it would hard to establish a proper rhythm of boosting ). It’s not only in England though that it’s pretty much vague

There has been a higher number of flu deaths than usual this year.

@PinkGinny @ConfusedNT

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/excess-mortality-in-england-and-english-regions

see the first item from top “excess mortality in England”

it will open a document, click on cause of death

compare cancer excess deaths vs all cardiovascular diseases.

the cancer excess deaths scale is 0 to 1000 with the highest number of excess in the 1000s happening in 2020

the numbers since, especially recently are in the lower 100s, with months with fewer deaths than expected

for all cardiovascular diseases, and also, for each of the cardiovascular disease (see under all) in much higher, over 3000 for weeks on weeks in 2021, and this winter with a few weeks of 1000 extra per week. You can see better if you first click on the graph, wait to see the top right icon to expand and press on it. You
l get a full page expanded graph.

There are excess deaths because the NHS is fucked

Nothing to do with covid boosters

Of everything, hasn’t there. Everything being halted due to Covid.
I doubt if there was strong evidence for boosters they’d be eliminated (and the link you posted was for England, but it’s the same everywhere - currently there doesn’t seem to be a consensus, unlike flu jabs that have been going one for ages)
Im not defending it, but there’s been a lot of scientific doubt about the efficiency of boosters currently

Yes… COVID excuse has vastly reduced, and it’s still the same mess re waiting times etc

Flu and covid viruses differ and the vaccines differ as well.

Flu mutates slower, so there is a way to create vaccines which are targeting the most probable flu variants for the coming season.

Covid mutates faster, so another booster with the original vaccine has limited effect against current variants (thought for autumn wave both mRNA vaccines delivered booster doses matching the strains).
I suppose it is mostly political decision - there were a huge popular demand to just scrap talking about covid, so it happened.
In other countries boosters are still offered and people are getting them.

Yes exactly re mutations

This is happening internationally.

I’m sure you can research it yourself, by Google, for example gov + Australia + mortality statistics, and you’re not one of those that are spooned up info that they just recurgitate undigested later

but just to get you started

www.abs.gov.au/statistics/health/causes-death/provisional-mortality-statistics/latest-release

here, not to lose you, if it’s too difficult to read all, scroll down until

For all deaths:

In 2022, there were 144,650 deaths that occurred by 30 September and were registered by 30 November. This is 19,986 deaths (16.0%) more than the baseline average.
In September there were 15,489 deaths, 957 (6.6%) above the historical average.

@ZiriForEver explained well one of the issues. They’re not managing to keep up with the evolutions
As for who’s to blame, I don’t know

Just been looking at the data, and excess deaths certainly aren't higher now than during the peaks of the pandemic.

@ZiriForEver nope, the flu jab doesn’t target “probable mutations for next year”. No one is engineering viruses, and then keeps them private but releases an antidote for them, just in case their model of probability has guessed it right :))

it selects the most circulated and or dangerous mutations of the previous year, and makes the vaccine for the next year. It still provides a protection and an “exercise”for the immune system. Just ask your vaccine provider!

again, why not for covid?!

Why when COVID was here were there 0flu deaths? Why do people say that COVID is responsible for all kinds of ailments? It's all so illogical

Flu virus has been known for ages, so it’s easier to predict (except some pandemics you’d know).
Covid is recent, modeling just doesn’t help as much (as proven by the recent booster model)

Yes, they aren’t higher than covid but they are higher than what we’ve seen for decades.

plus while we knew why people were dying then, we don’t know now. They aren’t dying of covid. More are dying of heart issues than cancer (or other diseases that could be explained away by lack of treatment 2 years prior)

if lack of treatment in 2020 was the cause you’d see similar numbers of excess deaths across all causes, more or less. But not many many times more of heart issues than cancer or others…

if nhs was the cause, then it wouldn’t have been international. And so on.

There is no prediction! The flu jab names the variants it includes! I know because I always pay attention.

and I’ve asked the providers, the variants it includes are the ones from the previous year.

again I’m sure you can find the flu jab for 2022, read the prospect, see the variants it includes and Google those to see they were in circulation prior to the vaccine