Leading Oxford vaccine expert warns giving regular boosters is ‘not sustainable’
‘We can’t vaccinate the planet every six months’: Leading Oxford vaccine expert warns giving regular boosters is ‘not sustainable’ and says fourth Covid jabs should not be rolled out until there is more evidence
Oxford professor Sir Andrew Pollard helped develop AstraZeneca jab in 2020He expressed optimism, even as Omicron variant continues to ravage the UKBut he insisted giving boosters to people every six months was ‘not sustainable’
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
Britons shouldn’t be offered a fourth Covid jab until there is more evidence, the head of the country’s vaccine body has claimed.
Sir Andrew Pollard, chairperson of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said giving boosters to people every six months was ‘not sustainable’.
He said future vaccination drives should target the most vulnerable rather than offering top-up doses to all over-12s.
Germany’s health minister warned a second booster will be required to manage Omicron, while Israel has approved a fourth dose for all over-60s.
But the top scientist said: ‘The future must be focusing on the vulnerable and making boosters or treatments available to them to protect them.
‘We know that people have strong antibodies for a few months after their third vaccination, but more data are needed to assess whether, when and how often those who are vulnerable will need additional doses.
‘We can’t vaccinate the planet every four to six months. It’s not sustainable or affordable. In the future, we need to target the vulnerable.’
The professor, who was chief investigator of the Oxford Covid- 19 vaccine trials and director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, helped develop the AstraZeneca jab in 2020.
Sir Andrew Pollard, chairperson of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) added that giving boosters to people every six months was ‘not sustainable’
A year on from the first time AstraZeneca was administered to a member of the public, Professor Pollard expressed optimism going forward – even as the Omicron variant continues to ravage the UK.
‘The worst is absolutely behind us. We just need to get through the winter,’ he said.
As for Boris Johnson’s current handling of the crisis, with his relatively light restrictions across England, Professor Pollard said: ‘[It] seems to be working so far. The system isn’t falling over. But it’s finely balanced.
‘We can’t fully answer whether he’s got it right for some time.’
In the 12 months since AstraZeneca was injected into Brian Pinker, 82, a dialysis patient in Oxford, nine billion Covid doses, including AstraZeneca, have been given worldwide.
In Britain alone, 90 per cent of over-12s have had their first vaccine and more than 80 per cent have had two doses, while 33 million boosters have been given.
The graph shows the countries who have given the highest total number of vaccine doses and boosters per 100 population. It demonstrates how a number of nations are now, on average exceeding two doses per person. The UK is a mid tier performer in the lower cohort of the top 20 performers while the US doesn’t even manage to make the cut
While only a mid-performer in the top 20 nations for vaccine doses per 100 people the UK is a top performer when it comes to comparing nations such as the US, Canada, Australia and Israel
According to Professor Pollard, when the Oxford/AZ trials were first started in April 2020, vaccine scientists and investigators were told it would be two years before the vaccine could be rolled out.
With so much of the UK and other richer nations now vaccinated, Professor Pollard has added his voice to calls to ‘open up’, despite the ongoing threat from Omicron – which the latest UK studies have suggested is milder than Delta.
Professor Pollard said: ‘At some point, society has to open up. When we do open, there will be a period with a bump in infections, which is why winter is probably not the best time. But that’s a decision for the policy makers, not the scientists.
‘Our approach has to switch, to rely on the vaccines and the boosters. The greatest risk is still the unvaccinated.’
