PROFESSOR ROB GALLOWAY: There’s a very good reason for us all to have a Covid booster. So why isn’t anyone allowed to pay for one?

Being a frontline NHS worker isn't the easiest job in the world, but it does have its benefits. Most notably, it gave me a ticket for a free Covid booster.

I had my fall booster about eight weeks ago. I'm fit and healthy, and if I wasn't a frontline worker I wouldn't be able to get this jab – through the NHS or even privately – like you can in other countries like America.

Many people would argue that there's no point for me to be so grateful for that booster, but I've looked at the evidence and I think it should be available to anyone who wants it (but not required).

If the pandemic hadn't happened, I obviously wouldn't want the vaccine – especially one that was developed so quickly and without the reassurance of long-term safety data that exists for other jabs.

Moreover, like any vaccine, it has potential side effects: in the case of the AstraZeneca shot, there is an incredibly rare risk of heart inflammation.

But when we look at the data, the benefits far outweigh the potential harms – not just reducing your chances of getting Covid, but reducing the severity of the disease and, crucially, reducing your chance of getting a ​​long Covid-19 period. I dread to think what would have happened if the vaccines had not been introduced.

When I first got my shot, I thought this would be the solution to Covid. But we soon saw that people were becoming infected after immunization. To be honest, I wondered how effective the vaccine was.

However, this was convincingly answered by a major analysis of 68 studies on the effectiveness of the Covid vaccine, published in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine in February.

This was an independent analysis by statisticians in Canada who had no ties to the pharmaceutical companies (i.e. they had no intention of profiting from any ongoing immunization program).

The statisticians showed that vaccines reduced hospitalizations by 92 percent and mortality by 91 percent, but effectiveness decreased over time — and boosters were needed to maintain that effectiveness.

In other words, this study showed that vaccines were a huge help, but not the golden ticket to save humanity from the curse of Covid.

Over time, viruses naturally become less virulent and, with increasing levels of vaccine-related and natural immunity, have less harmful effects on our bodies. That's what we're seeing with Covid.

Therefore, you could say that someone like me, a fit and relatively healthy man in his 40s, doesn't need to worry about getting another booster.

And this is why in Britain you can only get a vaccine if you are over 65; at increased risk due to a disease such as diabetes or cancer; living in a care home for the elderly; a primary health or social worker; between 12 and 64 years old and living with someone with a weakened immune system; or between 16 and 64 years and a caregiver.

But what, in my opinion, is not being taken into account with sufficient force is the way in which the vaccine reduces the risk of long Covid-19. And it's going to be long Covid that I'm personally worried about.

I'm concerned about the brain fog that many people with long-term Covid-19 experience (linked to a reduction in brain volume, as seen on MRI scans). Then there are the repeated infections with other diseases (research shows that people with long Covid-19 have a damaged immune response).

I have not only destroyed the lives of patients by the long Covid-19 virus, but also the lives of colleagues.

But the vaccine and booster reduce the risk of long Covid. We know this definitively thanks to data published in the BMJ just a few weeks ago.

Researchers looked at more than 580,000 Swedish adults who developed Covid – half had been vaccinated, the rest had not.

Among the unvaccinated, 1.4 percent developed long Covid-19, compared to just 0.4 percent of those who were vaccinated – and the more boosters you had, the lower the chance of long Covid-19.

My wife, who is pregnant (and also a doctor), also had the booster. Not only because of the threat of long Covid-19, but also to reduce risks during pregnancy.

A study recently published in the journal Lancet Digital Health that looked at data from more than 100,000 pregnancies in the US made for compelling reading.

Vaccinated pregnant women suffered less from Covid during pregnancy (4 percent) compared to those who were not vaccinated (5.3 percent). Covid rates were even lower in those who had had a booster, compared with vaccinated women who had not.

It is also statistically proven that vaccinated women are less likely to have a premature birth, stillbirth or a very low birth weight baby compared to unvaccinated mothers. (And those who had had a booster were even less likely to have a stillbirth than those who had been vaccinated but had not had a booster.)

Yet many Britons have been excluded from the booster program this year. The problem is that the two recent major sets of findings have emerged since the Covid booster guidance was drawn up by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI).

I would urge the Government and the JCVI to do what all good scientists do when the data changes: adapt their views to what is now known – and make boosters available to everyone over 18.

There is precedent in Britain for changing vaccine policy as the evidence changes. The chickenpox vaccine has been proven to be safe, but is not currently part of the childhood vaccination program.

However, this may change as the JCVI recommended this inclusion last month. The government has yet to make a decision but is expected to accept it.

And the chickenpox shot has been privately available for years. The same goes for the flu vaccine: some get it for free, some don't, but you can pay for it if you don't qualify for a free shot.

I think the same should happen with Covid boosters. If the government decides not to fund this, we should change the legislation and allow people to pay to get Covid vaccines privately, as they can for flu.

Not allowing this to happen is a dogma that overrides the best interests of the patient. The jab has been proven to help prevent a long Covid-19 bout, and patients' interests must come first when it comes to medical decisions.

Under the microscope: Choreographer Arlene Phillips, 80, answers our health quiz

Interview by Richard Barber

CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?

I live in a four-storey house. I can climb them with ease, and the day I can't, I start training again – which for me means running (on public roads). During the pandemic, I started running every day to build my endurance, but I slowed down as life returned to normal.

EVER DIET?

I have been on a diet since I was fifteen. When I started, there were no overweight dancers. I weighed 8st 7lb and desperately wanted to shed a stone. I've been to the doctor for pills and have been on every diet known to man – the cabbage diet, the egg diet, you name it. But I started to realize that diets don't work, so I just followed a sensible eating plan. I'm 6 feet tall and have weighed between 7 and 12 pounds for years. This summer I was busy and traveling a lot, and I let my weight go up to 8.7 pounds. I plan to do something about it.

ANY FOOD INVESTIGATIONS?

Yes, cheese and chocolate. Savory and sweet. Hopeless.

POP PILLS?

Vitamins C and D for my immune system – and statins to keep my cholesterol in check.

FAMILY ILLUMINATES?

My mother died of leukemia in her early 40s, and my father died of Alzheimer's in his 80s. Luckily me, my older brother Ian and my younger sister Karen are fit and healthy.

Dealing well with pain?

I'm not good with sudden, sharp pain—I panic before going to the dentist—but I'm okay with milder pain. For example, I recently dislocated my thumb, which worked with paracetamol.

HAD SOMETHING REMOVED?

Only my two daughters, Alana, 44, and Abi, 32, by caesarean section.

HAVE EVER TRIED ALTERNATIVE REMEDIES?

I've flirted with homeopathic remedies (like willow herb for stomach upset), but I'm essentially a fan of conventional medicine.

WHAT KEEPS YOU AWAKE?

Worries, like during a three-week rehearsal period for my recent show House of Flamenka. I wasn't sure if that was long enough (although it was).

ANY PHOBIES?

Flying is my number one priority, even though I have done a lot of it. Many years ago I had a hypnosis session with Paul McKenna which helped me relax. But then I had a bad landing experience and all the fear returned.

I was claustrophobic and hated snakes. But when I was on I'm A Celebrity in Wales they put me in a box with lots of snakes and that cured me of both phobias.

DO YOU WANT TO LIVE FOREVER?

If I could stay the way I am now, I wouldn't mind a little extension – but not forever, no. The planet wouldn't be able to handle this. We must all move on and leave the world to others.