JCVI plans for Covid vaccine rollout 2025 onwards

[vivdunstan]

Statement from the JCVI vaccines group about plans for NHS Covid vaccines in the UK from Spring 2025 onwards. Basically they intend to cut out the broad at risk under 65 group as well as 65-74 year age folk. The vaccine will still be given to people who are 75 and over, older adults in care homes, or people who are immunosuppressed. The last option will mean that many vasculitis patients will still qualify for the Covid vaccine. But anyone who isn't immunosuppressed or of the right age won't. Just giving you a heads up. I'm off to get my autumn 2024 Covid+flu vaccines today ...

gov.uk/government/publicati...

[Investigator1]

Hi Viv, I suppose we saw that coming, the new Government are trying to save money and it looks like some pensioners don’t matter to them. To be honest my wife is 55 and she will pay. I am 64 next and finishing my Rituximab so might get in 2 more. What next, changes to the Flu Jab ……watch this space!

[oldtimer2 in reply to Investigator1]

It's always a balance between risks/benefits/costs. The priority group are the people who don't mount a good response to the vaccine - those immune suppressed by medication and the elderly (over 75yrs) whose immune response is gradually becoming less. They need more frequent immunisations.

We still don't know how long the response to the mDNA vaccines against Covid19 will persist in most healthy people, so we don't know how often to give booster vaccines. The present illness seems much milder - more like the cold symptoms that most coronoviruses (of which this is one) produce in otherwise healthy people.

But it would be good to have more information about the incidence and spread which is not being collected well enough after the lack of investment in Public health over the last 14 years.

The flu vaccines are rather different in that the flu infection changes very rapidly and the vaccine producers need to try and predict what it will be like in six months time from the infections cirulating in other parts of the world. So flu vaccines need to be given more frequently.