A doctor has been alarmed by the lack of concern people have for Covid-19 despite ‘one in 40’ now having the virus. Professor Adam Finn, a doctor and member of the Joint Committee for Vaccine and Immunisation, believes that we currently have one of the most infectious strains of coronavirus.
“The virus is very much still out there and one in 40 people now have it,” he told BBC’s Today Programme on Radio 4. “Although the virus we have is less severe in terms of the chances of it landing you in hospital, it is very significantly more infectious than other variants.
“We are still confronted with a virus that is very much among us and we still have older and younger people at risk of hospitalisation.
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“I think we have seen all the way through that the younger you are the less likely you are to come forward to get the vaccine as they feel less at risk. People are becoming, for whatever reason, less concerned and less likely to come forward to be boosted.
“The other side is that people feel a bit rotten after they have the vaccine. So I think if we can find vaccines in the future that are like that less I think that will help.”
He spoke of how he felt 'silly going on the train and being the only one wearing a mask', and suggested it is difficult to buck the trend behaviourally. Prof Finn also said how the booster does have an expiry date, and the time to boost is something that should be considered carefully.
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“Booster protection does fade, particularly against milder infection, and after a while against severe infection as well,” the professor continued. “So that is a disappointment for us all in regard to these vaccines that have otherwise been very valuable for the pandemic.
“We are going to need to focus on older people and those with underlying health conditions and also health care workers. You don’t want to boost people and then they become vulnerable again at the time you need them to be protected but equally you can’t wait too long before you have provided the boost.
“Likely the time to get going [with a booster programme] will be September and that will also be influenced by the fact that it will be the time the flu vaccines arrive and we can potentially give people both at the same time. The picture in the Southern Hemisphere does suggest that quite a significant flu epidemic might occur here in the north in this coming winter.”
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