WITH Covid cases across England still very high, including more than 500 people in Bradford with the virus, experts have said restricting the autumn booster jab age to 65 would leave “a lot of vulnerable people unprotected”.

According to the most recent government figures on June 19, there were 87,147 cases of Covid in England, up 30.3 per cent on the previous week.

On the same date in Bradford, 529 Covid cases were reported, a 51.1 per cent increase on the previous week.

Figures show that Bradford Teaching Hospitals Trust was caring for 29 coronavirus patients in hospital as of Tuesday last week, while Airedale Hospital was caring for 21 Covid patients at the same time.

Across England there were 6,002 people in hospital with Covid as of June 21, with 149 of them in mechanical ventilation beds – including two at Airedale Hospital but none in Bradford.

The most recent statistics also reveal 42,127,788 people in England have had two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 33,160,563 have had their booster or third dose.

Asked about whether the eligibility criteria for the booster programme should be reassessed, Dr Paul Burton, Moderna’s chief medical officer, said: “I think what we’re going to be looking at come the autumn is a lot of under-vaccinated, under-protected people because maybe they got boosted last November, December, for the holidays, but they’re now going to have a long interval where they haven’t had a booster.

“So people are going to be under-vaccinated and under-protected and I think restricting the booster age to 65 will leave a lot of other vulnerable people unprotected.”

In an update published on the government website in May, the Joint Committee on Immunisations and Vaccination's (JCVI) current stance on the autumn vaccination process is as follows: A Covid-19 vaccine should be offered to residents in a care home for older adults and staff, frontline health and social care workers, all those 65 years of age and over and adults aged 16 to 64 years who are in a clinical risk group.

Professor Wei Shen Lim, chair of Covid-19 vaccination on the JCVI, said: “Last year’s autumn booster vaccination programme provided excellent protection against severe Covid-19, including against the Omicron variant.

“We have provided interim advice on an autumn booster programme for 2022 so that the NHS and care homes are able to start the necessary operational planning, to enable high levels of protection for more vulnerable individuals and frontline healthcare staff over next winter.”

 

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