Covid-19: Should you get the seasonal booster this autumn?

The winter is drawing in and many of the old and vulnerable will be looking at annual flu jabs but there is also the Covid-19 seasonal booster to consider.

In the UK, the NHS are urging the 6.6 million at-risk people or over 65s to book a jab ahead of winter. These people will include those who are over 65, have suppressed immune systems, are pregnant, have a learning disability or another health issue.

'Twindemic'?

NHS medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis stated on NHS England:

The threat of a Covid-19 and flu season creating a “twindemic” this winter is real, as infection levels continue to rise and the number of people in hospital with covid climbing by more than a third in just over a month across England.

In an effort to keep infections down and hospitals from being overwhelmed the NHS will invite everybody over 50 to have the seasonal booster from Friday, 14 October, onwards.

The booster dose will be available to:

• people aged 50 and over
• people aged five to 49 with health conditions that put them at higher risk - including pregnant women
• care-home staff
• front-line health and social-care workers
• carers aged 16 to 49
• household contacts of people with weakened immune system

The NHS urges everyone who is eligible to have the seasonal booster to do so. It is possible to book online or by contacting your GP or a pharmacy.

Covid-19 in the US

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week signed off on a new Covid-19 booster shot aimed at targeting the highly contagious omicron variant.

One epidemiologist, Katelyn Jetelina urged everyone in the US to get the jab to keep infections down, stating, according to PBS News:

How high that wave is, and how overwhelmed our hospital systems are, are going to be a direct correlation with how many people get their booster and how this virus mutates

Both countries are using the new ‘bivalent’ vaccine which means that it will target the original SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, as well as the now more-prevalent omicron subvariant BA.5.

The CDC and NHS have approved both Moderna and Pfizer versions of the vaccine. They believe it could even offer some protection to some future mutations too, helping to keep everybody safe during any potential new waves of Covid-19.

Sources used:

- BBC'Covid booster: Who can get another jab this autumn?'

- PBS News'Should I get the new COVID-19 booster? Here’s what you need to know'

- NHS England'NHS urges six million people to get their Covid autumn booster'

- FDA 'Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Authorizes Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccines for Use as a Booster Dose in Younger Age Groups'

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