Apparently, in order to save money, the British government decided to use the old stock of COVID vaccines, and they were doing so until a week (or so) ago. Hence, more than 2.3 million older and immunosuppressed people received the vaccine that does not match the dominant strain (XBB ), including people in care homes.
"Sites should continue to vaccinate this week with Comirnaty BA.4-5 vaccine, switching to Comirnaty 30 XBB.1.5 from 02 October when POC systems will allow recording of correct vaccine type. Where demand exceeds available supply, sites should use their available vaccine, this may be Comirnaty BA.4-5 if all initial supply of Comirnaty 30 XBB.1.5 is used prior to first replenishment; individuals should not be turned away. "
There is nothing in that message that suggests the use of out of date vaccines. It merely states that previous versions of the vaccine may be used if necessary, and by exception, should supplies of the latest version be insufficient to meet demand.
It is not out of date, it just does not match the current dominant variant, hence providing the level of protection inferior to what we would have received had the government decided that the health and survival chances of the elderly and immunocompromised were worth it.
They also vaccinated 2.3 milions of those first in line with the inferior vaccine without offering alternative options and making them aware of it, so those people now make their decisions believing to be well protected.
It would be good to see clear evidence, it wouldn’t surprise me though, last year they were vaccinating for Omicron with the original Covid vaccines despite the original version of Covid being long gone. I am pro vaccines if they work.
I would suggest perhaps that when the sudden decision was made to bring forward the latest vaccination round due to concern about the new variant, there were not stocks of the intended latest vaccine ready for wide distribution, so it was decided to use what was available. Concerning if so considering that the cohort called first were deemed to be the most vulnerable. But all a bit guesswork anyway I imagine as little data on new variant available. But I am only commenting on what you have presented of course.
Before having mine in September I was certainly aware I was most likely having the last version of the vaccine. There had been press coverage about this (possibly in the BBC news health section) explaining that the last version would still give good protection. My understanding was the new variant had only been isolated a month or so the new vaccine wasn't available yet. Also as I live in area where covid had become rife again and my spring vaccination must have been wearing off I took the decision to get on with it. Being in, hopefully, the small cohort of MPN patients for whom other people's simple colds put me in hospital I was grateful to get some protection sooner rather than later.
Thanks for sharing . I’ve just checked and I’ve had the latest version of the vaccine. As others have suggested perhaps it’s depending on availability and maybe either is preferable to catching covid without.
I'd be interested to know how you know which version you had. The NHS site merely shows that I had Pfizer batch GM6363 and not whether it is BA4-5 or XBB1.5
I access my records via the patient access app not the NHS app so structure may be different. Under the immunisation tab it doesn’t specify but in the medications tab it shows specifically which one. Hope that helps.
Ah!! I see.... Following your info, I find that the NHS app does indeed show the vaccine type under 'Acute (short term) medication' but not under 'Immunisations'.I guess they're working on the principal that there's no point making things easy if you can make them difficult.
It seems I got the BA4-5. Suits me, at least I got one.
Very typical of our Government! I had my Vaccination on the actual date mentioned for change over,2nd October. I’ve just looked at my medical record and it was the 4.5 Vac, not the new one. I did ask which Vac it was and it was Pfizer which I’ve had for 7 of my 8. The one at beginning of June was a new one then, but not mentioned again since. They were OK but we vulnerable people don’t seem to be protected against this new variant .
I also got the 'old' one so I guess we will have to be more careful than we would, had we been given one that protected us against the new variant. Sadly, there is nothing we can do….certainly can’t get another dose!
I wouldn’t, only because it could distress those who have also had the 'old' vaccine and can’t do anything about it. I’m going to try and put it out of my mind and probably decide that I’ve had enough!
Yes, that occurred to me. Better not, but we’ll just have to get on with it I think. Certainly don’t want to distress anyone . Take care, kind regards, Fran
I have spoken to the medical team about this, and they strongly recommend vaccination. They also want to reiterate the effectiveness of the vaccines. There may be further drift in dominant variant. Vaccines have variable efficiency but also variable in the people receiving them.
Please watch the recent vlogcast with Nona in conversation with Dr Patrick Harrington, Consultant Haematologist, Guy's Hospital, who spoke about the Covid vaccine research for MPN patients, and the current Covid vaccine booster.
Thank you for sharing this. It is pretty disappointing. I did know that when I had my vaccine it was unlikely to have been updated for the very latest version of covid going around. However, I still thought it had been tweaked a little since my last booster. Because of the increases in the new veriant of covid people were advised to have their vaccine as soon as possible. I had originally been planning to have my booster at the end of October which would be 6 months since my previous one. After all the news of a new dominent strain I got panicky and booked my booster for the end of September instead. Had I known an updated booster was so close in the pipeline I would have waited in this particular instance.
In line with others, I feel a bit cheated. I don't feel I have been able to make an informed choice which is annoying. So now I am just that little bit more worried about the new varient and feel just a little less protected than I did before reading this.
I too had the older Pfizer jab as part of the first wave of vaccinations this autumn, before the new one became available.
It’s a toss-up whether it was better to get vaccinated early (probably yes in my case, as I travelled in late September to an area where Covid was rife!) or wait a few weeks for the new vaccine.
My understanding is that the older version is still effective but maybe not as much against the current strain of Covid. Given that the virus keeps mutating, there will probably be new strains circulating soon anyway, so it’s a constantly moving target!
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