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Vaccine jabs every 6 months?

145 replies

Susan333 · 03/04/2021 15:30

Matt Hancock along with other government advisors have suggested that the vaccine may need to be administered every 6 months with Autumn boosters already being prepared for this year. I just wondered if everyone will be keen on taking them every few months if required and whether we will get the same enthusiasm as we have had for this current takeup of the vaccine?

I suppose it will become a routine where we pop down to get the vaccine every few months and become a norm of modern day life

www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n664

OP posts:
Motorina · 03/04/2021 15:33

Ehhh? The article doesn't say this.

It says a booster in the autum is likely because of the risk of variants, and an annual booster is likely after that. I see nothing to suggest this would be six-monthly.

Bluntness100 · 03/04/2021 15:34

Um what now? Did you not actually bother to read the article?

Druidlookingidiot · 03/04/2021 15:34

"I think we’re likely to make a bold decision to recommend a booster dose, even if we haven’t got all the evidence of the necessity, just because I think the consequences of not immunising with the booster dose are so big. If it’s proved that it’s needed months later it may be too late"

"“I suspect it’s going to be likely that we’re going to require an annual boost for a while,” he said. “It just depends on the length of duration of protection. The virus mutates, [but it] probably doesn’t mutate as much or as quickly as the influenza virus, so it’s very difficult to predict whether this is going to be an annual vaccine or for how many years"

www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n664

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Theunamedcat · 03/04/2021 15:36

So the entire population is going to go through this every single year?

Susan333 · 03/04/2021 15:37

"People may need Covid vaccines every 6 months to contain virus, Matt Hancock suggests"

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Druidlookingidiot · 03/04/2021 15:37

Same link, different conclusion.

PuzzledObserver · 03/04/2021 15:38

may.

may be needed.

We don't know yet.

Susan333 · 03/04/2021 15:39

@Druidlookingidiot

Same link, different conclusion.
Hancock has said jabs may be needed every 6 months with boosters for Autumn being prepared.. I'm not sure what part of that you are angry at?
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Susan333 · 03/04/2021 15:41

A direct quote

"Matt Hancock has people may need to be revaccinated every six months in order to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The warning came as he insisted - despite the government's catalogue of errors - that this will be the last national lockdown.

Mr Hancock said: “I anticipate we will probably need to revaccinate because we don’t know the longevity of the protection from these vaccines.

“We don’t know how frequently it will be, but it might need to be every six months, it might need to be every year.”

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ColourfulElmerElephant · 03/04/2021 15:42

Yes, I will have it. As I understand, it’s likely to be combined with the flu jab. I would imagine the take up will be a higher than most people who usually have had flu in the past. More so if it’s required for holidays, or work etc.

Druidlookingidiot · 03/04/2021 15:42

I'm not sure what part of that you are angry at?

Are you speaking to me? I haven't said I'm angry, if you are.

The link to the BMJ didn't say anything about six months, it says a booster in the autumn may be needed and there's a possibility for annual vaccines for now.

megletthesecond · 03/04/2021 15:43

I assumed we'd need a booster at the start of winter anyway. Still some way to go before we're out the other end.

HamFisted · 03/04/2021 15:43

Nah. I refuse to believe it. It's not the most dangerous vaccine out there by any stretch. It'll be like flu- the vulnerable will have an annual vaccine.

SexTrainGlue · 03/04/2021 15:44

I'm not sure if it's been explicitly announced, but there have been enough mentions of an autumn booster that I think the expectation is that at least priorities 1-4 will be re-done. What's less clear is which vaccine will be used - will a new variant shot be ready in time? If not, do you get another the same? Or deliberately a different one?

It's still to early to have any firm expectation of possible vaccination schedules beyond this year. He's right to rule nothing in it out

Susan333 · 03/04/2021 15:46

I think with vaccine passports on the way , we will need to keep our jabs updated in order to function in society

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Druidlookingidiot · 03/04/2021 15:48

I'm happy to have the vaccinations, to protect me from Covid.

titchy · 03/04/2021 15:49

@Theunamedcat

So the entire population is going to go through this every single year?
Through what? An annual jab, along side the flu jab which millions of us have each year? It's a 20 min trip to Boots, not six months hard labour.Hmm
XenoBitch · 03/04/2021 15:51

So all the museums, churches etc being used as vaccination centres are going to stay that way now?

Druidlookingidiot · 03/04/2021 15:52

It's a 20 min trip to Boots, not six months hard labour

Grin
FlattestWhite · 03/04/2021 15:52

Also, there is some evidence that the variations that are happening to the virus are converging on the same sorts of mutations in the same places on the genome. This would mean that at some point, they would be able to develop vaccines that are more likely to protect against a number of variants, and thus even boosters wouldn't necessarily be needed forever, even if they are at first while they learn more about the virus and how it changes.

Also, there is work being done to make the vaccine based on a different part of the virus, one that appears to mutate very little. This would require a different method and is apparently more difficult to produce, but if they can successfully do that, then it would be generally resistant to mutations on the spike (which is the area the current vaccines produce antibodies to), and those are the mutations that seem to happen more quickly.

Furthermore, some think that a third dose even of the same vaccine (unaltered for mutations) might still be enough to increase protection so that it is effective against those variants. That might mean that with enough boosters, it doesn't need to be an ongoing thing but that eventually, immunity could build up sufficiently.

Or various other possibilities. None of it is certain yet, so even Matt Hancock is just speculating about things that might happen. I think we'll have to wait and see.

I'd certainly take any and all boosters that are offered, as would all the scientists and medical people I know.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 03/04/2021 15:52

Read your own link...

Might be every 6 months... might be every year...

... and the rest of that sentence was not so artfully left off. Let's see, why could he have been saying?

... we don't know yet, research is ongoing?

HamFisted · 03/04/2021 15:53

Through what? An annual jab, along side the flu jab which millions of us have each year? It's a 20 min trip to Boots, not six months hard labour.hmm

My sister faints whenever she has to have any procedure involving a needle and she's not alone either. Kudos to you for not having an issue with it.

Theunamedcat · 03/04/2021 15:53

We dont all get a flu jab each year 🙄 its been a massive undertaking with vaccine centers being set up so are we all going to have to do this every single year?

ColourfulElmerElephant · 03/04/2021 15:55

@Theunamedcat

So the entire population is going to go through this every single year?
One injection or risk 12 months of restricted movements and lockdowns. I don’t see the issue. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It only needs to be enough people to stop the NHS being overwhelmed so if others don’t want to or can’t, it won’t be such an issue. Many refuse the flu jab and die from flu as a result but the hospitals can cope with this, so it doesn’t impact the rest of the population.