This spring, fewer people than ever will receive a Covid booster. Britain needs a new strategy | Sheena Cruickshank

TThe general news about how Covid-19 has hit the UK so far this year has been relatively positive: while we have still had many hospital admissions and deaths from Covid and flu, the numbers are lower in England and Wales, Scotland And Northern Ireland compared to the same period last year. News is too enter about the next few rounds of Covid vaccine boosters. It seems that countries like The United States And France vaccines available to anyone who wants them, Britain will likely continue to restrict them free access for certain groups, and may further restrict access in the future.

The spring booster campaign will, as expected, be more limited than the recent fall campaigns – aimed at adults aged 75 and over, elderly people in care homes and immunosuppressed children and adults. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI), which makes recommendations to the government, says it is using a “bespoke, non-standard cost-effectiveness assessment methodology” to inform priorities going forward, but full details of its analysis are not available yet (the JCVI said material for its spring campaign will be published “in due course”). Looking ahead to the upcoming rollout, and reading between the lines, it seems likely that the number of groups offered boosters will continue to shrink.

When rolled out in the autumn of 2023, the supply was already much lower than in previous years, And notes the JCVI that the fall of 2024 will probably be even smaller. If you read through the latest JCVI statement, the main focus seems to be on the risk of hospital admission due to serious infection or death. It is clear that a serious illness is a great and important consideration, but should other factors also be taken into account? For example, children are less likely to develop a serious disease, but there are major benefits to vaccinating them.

a recent research In four Scandinavian countries, vaccines have been found to reduce hospital admissions among children aged 12 to 17 by more than 70%. And of course, children can also suffer long-term consequences even from a mild Covid-19 infection. Despite this, vaccines for children in Britain have been in limited supply and continue to be so no longer available everywhere (unless they are clinically vulnerable), and it seems likely that this position will hold. This makes Britain an outlier, like many other rich countries recommend vaccination for children. In England, almost 90% of five to eleven year olds have not been vaccinated.

The JCVI analysis takes into account the consequences of hospital admissions, but does not include the consequences of long-term Covid-19 in the calculations. About 65 million people People worldwide are estimated to suffer from long Covid-19 symptoms (symptoms lasting four or more weeks), and the condition often presents with severe symptoms that can affect many different organs, causing cardiovascular, respiratory and neurological problems. We know that vaccination helps protect against long-term Covid-19, but we are still seeing new cases, so it is uncertain how long protection lasts after previous vaccinations.

In Great Britain that is an estimated 80,000 people have left their jobs due to long Covid-19, and the cost of healthcare for people with long Covid-19 is high only increases over time. Despite the obvious social and economic costs, it appears that living with long Covid-19 will not be taken into account, nor will its effect on the economy be taken into account.

Further limiting the number of people offered vaccines in Britain also makes little sense as the government has already negotiated the purchase of vaccines. millions of doses of Covid vaccines, which will be delivered in phases between 2021 and 2024. Under this agreement, vaccines were purchased on the understanding that there would be sufficient coverage for people over 50 years of age and other clinically vulnerable people groups. With vaccine supply shrinking and uptake in certain groups low, there is a surplus of unused vaccines that will soon expire. The UK Health Security Agency estimates that this is expected to happen write off £229 million of vaccines that we are obliged to buy, or that we already have in our possession, and which will ultimately not be used.

It is unknown whether the value of these vaccines, versus the cost of delivery and rollout, has been taken into consideration when determining which age groups vaccines should be offered to in 2023 and 2024. The pre-purchase approach has tied us to certain makers and types of vaccines. and it is not clear whether there is a long-term plan to develop vaccines that may provide longer-lasting protection. But if we’re going to throw away vaccines, why not expand the age groups that are eligible right now?

There is good news for those in England and Scotland who want Covid-19 vaccines as they can finally buy doses privately. Unlike the flu vaccine, which costs around £20, the price per dose is likely to be £45. The costs of vaccinating an entire family can therefore quickly add up to hundreds of euros. We are in a cost of living crisis, with many struggling to eat or heat their homes. People who are poorer tend to have more precarious work, and that is true are most at risk of contracting Covid-19 at work, and would therefore benefit significantly from vaccination.

There are already many barriers to vaccination campaigns, including low trust and easy access to vaccines – and costs should not be added to that. The latest boosters in the US and many European countries have been free for all, but Britain is already moving towards a place where vaccines are reserved for those who are richest.

Britain’s initial commitments to vaccinate everyone against Covid-19 have had variable reach depending on age and demographics, but have still prevented untold amounts of death and suffering. At the moment, most adults in Britain under the age of 65 will be one or more years away from their last booster treatment. I do not mean to downplay the important volunteer work the JCVI does, or the budgetary constraints it faces in relation to the vaccine rollout, but it is vital that it provides much greater transparency around its cost calculations, so that a public discussion can take place about it. how to best use the vaccines we have, and what lies ahead in the future.