Covid: No need for a fourth jab yet, say UK advisers - BBC News

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A fourth Covid jab is not yet needed, say UK experts, because booster doses continue to provide high protection against severe disease from the Omicron variant among older adults.

UK Health Security Agency data shows three months after boosting, protection against hospitalisation remains at about 90% for people aged 65 and over.

Protection against mild symptomatic infection is more short-lived.

That drops to about 30% by about three months.

Figures also show why it is important to get a booster dose if you have only had two doses so far.

With just two vaccine doses, protection against severe disease drops to about 70% after three months and to 50% after six months.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises on vaccine policy, says the priority therefore remains to get first, second and third doses to those who have not already had them.

This is despite some countries such as Israel starting to give fourth Covid shots to manage the highly infectious Omicron variant that is causing rising numbers of infections around the globe.

More than 35 million boosters and third doses have now been administered across the UK.

Prof Wei Shen Lim, the JCVI's chairman of Covid-19 immunisation, said: "The current data show the booster dose is continuing to provide high levels of protection against severe disease, even for the most vulnerable older age groups.

"This is highly encouraging and emphasises the value of a booster jab.

"With Omicron continuing to spread widely, I encourage everyone to come forwards for their booster dose, or if unvaccinated, for their first two doses, to increase their protection against serious illness."

'Not the right time'

Professor Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the JCVI, said there would have to be swift action if data showed a drop off in immunity against severe disease for the elderly.

"But at the moment all the signs are good," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "What isn't sustainable in the long term is vaccine programme that delivers a vaccine every three months."

He said it was important to get the timing right for any potential fourth dose of a vaccine for vulnerable people.

"Which may be later in the year... we just don't think it's the right time at the moment," he said.

Meanwhile, extremely vulnerable patients with impaired immune systems are still advised to have four shots overall, rather than the usual three, to be fully vaccinated.

Even though vaccines are working well, large numbers of infections still mean some people will still get sick and need hospital care.

A psychology lecturer has told the BBC he believes varying coronavirus rules across the UK are causing people to feel "fatigue" and "uncertainty".

Dr Simon Williams from Swansea University said: "When you've got different rules in different countries, but effectively we are still sharing the UK, it really hampers people's understanding and it also undermines rules on both sides."

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About the data

Ambulance queues

When patients arrive at hospital by ambulance they should be handed over within 15 minutes. This data shows the proportion of ambulance patients who waited 30 minutes or more, in the week shown. It comes from daily situation reports which are published weekly during the winter in England. As this is fast-turnaround data, the NHS says only minimal validation can be carried out but it is considered fit for purpose.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not publish ambulance queue data.

A&E waits

Patients at A&E should be seen within four hours of arrival. This data shows the proportion of patients attending A&E who waited longer than four hours to be treated, discharged or admitted.

This data is published monthly for England and Wales and weekly for Scotland. Northern Ireland publishes its data quarterly and Winter 2021 is not yet available.

Bed waits and occupancy

If a patient at A&E needs to be admitted, the wait from decision to admit to being given a bed on a ward is recorded in England. The bed waits figure is the proportion of patients admitted via A&E who waited longer than four hours for a ward bed.

In Wales, bed wait data is not published, so the figure shown is the occupancy level in general and acute beds. Scotland and Northern Ireland do not publish bed wait or bed occupancy data.

NHS trusts and boards

Data for England is show by NHS trust, where the trust includes at least one hospital with a Type 1 A&E department. Type 1 means a consultant-led 24 hour A&E service with full resuscitation facilities.

When you enter a postcode for a location in England you will be shown a list of NHS trusts in your area. They will not necessarily be in order of your closest hospital as some trusts have more than one hospital. Data for Wales and Scotland are shown by NHS board.

Comparative data from two years ago is shown where available. However, where trusts have merged there is no like-for-like comparison to show. Bed occupancy data in Wales only goes back to April 2020.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid says he was concerned by rising Covid hospital admissions, particularly in older age groups in this Omicron wave.

"We are still seeing rising hospitalisations, particularly with the case rate rising with older age groups - that is of concern," he said.

"And I think we have to be honest when we look at the NHS and say it will be a rocky few weeks ahead."

Alongside rising hospitalisations, Covid-related staff absences in England have risen sharply, with the number of workers off sick for Covid reasons having trebled from the beginning of December, the latest figures show.

About 4% of hospital staff in England - nearly 36,000 - were off for Covid reasons each day during the week ending 2 January.

When other sickness absence is added it brings the total off to 9% - nearly double what would normally be seen at this time of year.

A graphic showing absences in the NHS in England

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