I try to revise these blogs every so often and thought I would remove those related to Covid. The legacy of Covid is many deaths and long term damage to healthcare systems but we are not seeing patients admitted to hospital due to Covid. I did consider just removing the blogs but several people have asked me about the need for vaccination and NHS England in the winter of 2024 is still advising some to be vaccinated. Here is my personal view:
I supported initial vaccination and most people have had multiple vaccinations and most likely at least one infection which provides long term protection and equally importantly allows for really robust protection with just one booster should the virus prove problematical again. In more granular detail, work in Israel has shown that you need 3 doses over a set period of time to get maximum benefit. After that a single booster will bring you back up to maximum protection in 5 days. If the initial course of 3 doses is incomplete a booster is less effective.
We know that the two mRNA vaccines are safe and the fantastic work done by my hero Uger Sahin is now being further developed so we expect to have vaccines against specific cancers in the near future. Oh, and he has brought his work to the UK so another reason to thank him. However the Astra Zeneca or Oxford vaccine is an issue accounting for all but a handful of the compensation claims in the UK so a no no to that.
The one issue with the mRNA vaccines is myocarditis, especially in males up to about 30. It is rarely fatal but can be debilitating for months.
So my recommendations is that we should only vaccinate the immunosuppressed; we know that Covid is still an issue for them. Immunosuppression includes those with active cancer, those having chemotherapy and also those on immunosuppressant drugs such as methotrexate and steroids so many patients with Crohns disease and rheumatoid arthritis as well as some eye conditions and severe asthma. Then there are patients without a spleen and long term infections such as HIV.
Age also leads to a less powerful immune system but in my opinion vaccinating at a set age is not scientific and if you are fit and active age is not an indicator. Younger people and especially men under 30 should not be vaccinated at the present time as although the risk is small the effect on the individual in terms of symptoms and loss of employment is great,