In talks for 4th booster..

[Maddymorphosis]

According to the DM and other sources, Israel and Germany have already announced this.

Ffs.. then the 5th at Easter, 6th in summer and so on?

Are people really willing to get vaccinated every few months ?

Variant specific boosters are being developed

No, I won't be getting a fourth. There has been no other vaccine that's needed so many doses in such a short space of time. Not even small pox (it was 3-5 years of immunity) and we eradicated that. And given the CEO of Pfizer went on record in NOVEMBER stating everyone would need an annual jab for years to come (how does he already know that if research is on-going??), this is beginning to seem like a big pharma cash cow. The scientists themselves can't agree on the role of natural immunity vs repeated immunisation or even whether omicron evades immunity against severe disease and death. For every scientist at imperial who think omicron resists delta antibodies and this means terrible terrible things will happen to the human race, there's someone at Oxford (Sunetra Gupta) who empathetically disagrees and thinks for most people natural immunity is the best option.

And frankly all the stats are nonsensical. The fact we still report Covid cases in hospital without reporting on WHAT actually caused the admission is bonkers. It is very dishonest to count anyone with Covid as a Covid admission if Covid is not why they're in the hospital. I could have a heart attack, get admitted, catch Covid in the bloody hospital (and have nothing worse than cold symptoms) and still be counted as a Covid admission. Madness.

I believe in vaccinations and have had three. I see absolutely no reason to have a fourth just because it's on offer. And because big pharma thinks I need it. Like the flu jab, it should be optional for those that need it/want it and I'll be livid if they start using it to control travel and where I can go.

@Bavarois

If it's what needs to be done to get us out of this hellish situation, yes. Presumably vaccines will develop so they can be given less frequently, they'll hopefully make a combination flu/covid vaccine and we can get it annually. Eventually it might only need to be certain categories that get it at all, like flu.

But it isn’t getting us out of this hellish situation is it? That’s the point.

@Maddymorphosis

According to the DM and other sources, Israel and Germany have already announced this.

Ffs.. then the 5th at Easter, 6th in summer and so on?

Are people really willing to get vaccinated every few months ?

Yes, I see no good reason not to. I'm already 2.5 months on from my booster so would be interested in a top up ASAP really!

I’m done with boosters and vaccines now. They make me feel more ill than covid did.

@Prescottdanni123

I know a 12 year old with type 1 diabetes who has to inject herself multiple times a day. I am not going to start complaining about getting jabbed once every few months.

I’m type 1 and inject multiple times a day. Doesn’t mean I expect others to unquestioningly accept monthly injections for an unrelated illness.

Yes.

Perfectly happy to have all boosters deemed necessary. Why wouldn’t I be?

There has been no other vaccine that's needed so many doses in such a short space of time.

There’s been no previous novel coronavirus pandemic needing a vaccine, that’s why.

@borntobequiet

There has been no other vaccine that's needed so many doses in such a short space of time.

There’s been no previous novel coronavirus pandemic needing a vaccine, that’s why.

But we have had a vaccine. Then another one and another one. So omicron is not 'novel' anymore, neither will other variants be. Because we have had the immunisations already to make variants 'non-novel'. If omicron now is not any different to a common cold for most adults, why is a booster needed? The flu jab isn't mandated, why would boosters for variants that are no more a threat than the flu be mandated?

Yes, whatever it takes.

I don't get the flu vaccine because it makes me feel rancid. I could do, but I choose not to. Covid vaccine makes me feel like shite too.

I got my third jab yesterday and was offered a free flu vax with it. I took both, but walking back home, thought 'why am I doing this?' I think 3 is enough for me. I had 4 goes at the MMR (doesn't work on me, judging by antibody testing), I am far from anti vax, I have tried my best. My CEV family have all caught covid and been fine - far more issues with their underlying health issues than covid.

I don't take any other anual vaccine. In fact, I don't even take paracetamol. I avoid pretty much all types of medicine. When it was a couple, to make a difference, that was one thing. But, I am not happy to be reqularly injected with vaccines for the greater good. If it becomes annual, like flu, I will avoid the vaccine like I generally do the flu one. I am done now.

It helps that I last left the country in 2005 and won't afford to for at least a decade. I might look in to it if I ever leave the country again, or develop any issues that make me more susceptible to covid.

@Prescottdanni123 yes but those blood tests were necessary for you, you weren’t doing them ‘for society as a whole’. That’s my issue here - people being asked to have regular vaccinations for an illness that for the overwhelming majority will be mild and wholly recoverable at home.

Most people I know aren’t getting them because they’re worried about their personal risk from Covid, they’re doing it ‘because otherwise the government will never let us live normal lives again’ and that’s a worrying place to be.

"If omicron now is not any different to a common cold for most adults, why is a booster needed? The flu jab isn't mandated, why would boosters for variants that are no more a threat than the flu be mandated?"

That was explained really early on in 2020. If we allow the virus to circulate we could cause a varient that is more worrying, as in affecting children/younger people, or at least cause more serious illness. The scientists want to stop mutations.

"And given the CEO of Pfizer went on record in NOVEMBER stating everyone would need an annual jab for years to come (how does he already know that if research is on-going??)"

Chris Whitty, JVT etc made that statement when the first vaccine was produced. Given the nature of Covid, it will take a few years to get the strain down so it is just like flu.
These questions have all been answered multiple times, if you watch the science stuff.

@Lifeisnteasy

I get the vaccines because if you do catch it after a vaccine, you don't get it as severely. I know an 18 year old who ended up in hospital with complications due to covid, so there is no 100% guarantee that being young and healthy will protect me.

The vaccine does offer level of protection against infection. If it stops me catching it and potentially infecting somebody else who may be vulnerable then its a good thing.

@Ponoka7

"If omicron now is not any different to a common cold for most adults, why is a booster needed? The flu jab isn't mandated, why would boosters for variants that are no more a threat than the flu be mandated?"

That was explained really early on in 2020. If we allow the virus to circulate we could cause a varient that is more worrying, as in affecting children/younger people, or at least cause more serious illness. The scientists want to stop mutations.

"And given the CEO of Pfizer went on record in NOVEMBER stating everyone would need an annual jab for years to come (how does he already know that if research is on-going??)"

Chris Whitty, JVT etc made that statement when the first vaccine was produced. Given the nature of Covid, it will take a few years to get the strain down so it is just like flu.
These questions have all been answered multiple times, if you watch the science stuff.

What scientists though? There is disagreement in the scientific community about this and a lot of scientists also take the view that natural immunity is far more powerful at stopping the spread of variants now that most of the population have been immunised against the initial strain. Sunetra Gupta who is a professor at Oxford on theoretical epidemiology, Dr Martin Kulldorf of Harvard and Dr Jay Battacharya of Stanford have been banging the drum on the pointlessness of booster vaccines for a while now. If you read the below declaration, you'll see support from scientists globally who are in disagreement with the current booster programme.

gbdeclaration.org/

So is it just the scientists who agree with a booster programme that helps big pharma be profitable that are given air time? Who decides which set of scientists is correct?

@Lifeisnteasy But it isn’t getting us out of this hellish situation is it? That’s the point.

But it is beginning to. This December has been a lot better than last December (admittedly I'm in Scotland where Sturgeon more or less barricaded us in the house from September - April), hospital admissions and deaths are reduced, even without lockdown. People seem to expect a magic bullet. Within 12 months of this disease being recognised, and within 9 months of a pandemic being declared, we had a vaccine developed, produced and rolled out. That is amazing. We are so lucky to live in this time and in this country.

There is exciting news about a new vaccine that will be variant proof. I think its going into phase one. I'll see if I can find the details.
But I'd have as many boosters as needed.

No. I am not having the booster and I won’t have any more. I’ve never gotten the flu jab either and have never been advised to. Keep giving them to people who need them or want them but you can’t keep mandating that the general public has them. Over 80% of the population has been vaccinated yet we have higher numbers or cases than ever before so clearly vaccines do little to stop transmission. I do believe they prevent serious illness but most are not at high risk of that anyway.

Some childhood vaccinations are 5 doses. But great to see another scientist contributing to the big debate. Well done you.

I’ve had the first two. I decided to pause the third. I’m not ruling out ever getting a booster. Just not for the moment.

DH and I were talking about this this morning. Hopefully if Omicron really is as mild as the common cold for most people, we'll get to a position where only the vulnerable and elderly need an annual booster and the rest of us can get on with it.

@JuergenSchwarzwald

DH and I were talking about this this morning. Hopefully if Omicron really is as mild as the common cold for most people, we'll get to a position where only the vulnerable and elderly need an annual booster and the rest of us can get on with it.

This is what I’m hoping for too 🤞

Yes. The vaccines are going to develop and evolve for a while as knowledge about the virus grows. The current crop of vaccines are just the first generation.