Category: Corona Virus Vaccine

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is a contagious pathogen that causes the respiratory infection known as COVID-19. Since it emerged in late 2019, the virus induced a global pandemic and wide-scale lockdowns before a vaccine was developed.

Now, there are more than 20 recognized variations of the original virus, and the vaccines first developed in late 2020 have been updated to match new and prominent variants of the coronavirus.

This article will explore the current vaccination guidelines and describe what a booster is and when you need one.

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When you are vaccinated against a particular virus, your immune system gets information from the virus, allowing your body to mount a defense and fight off the infection. The immunity you develop is similar to your natural immunity against a virus after overcoming an active infectionwithout having to get sick first.

Like many living things, though, viruses evolve over time. More than 20 recognized variants of the COVID-19 virus have emerged in the years since the first COVID-19 vaccines were formulated.

Boosters are updates to the original vaccine you received. These updates contain additional information about new or mutated viruses to offer you protection against the latest variants.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all American adults receive at least one of the latest vaccine updates. These updates protect against newer variants of COVID-19 and boost the work of the original vaccine, as its effectiveness can fade over time.

There are several brands of COVID-19 vaccines, and the CDC does not recommend one over another.

How long it takes a vaccine or booster to offer protection and how long protection lasts can vary from person to person. Infants, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems may not develop strong responses to the vaccine and may require additional doses or boosters.

Data from vaccine manufacturers suggest that, for most people, vaccines and booster doses start protecting you against the coronavirus within a week or two after your injection. However, specific factors, discussed later, can play a role in how quickly you develop immunity against COVID-19.

The CDC does not recommend one of the currently available vaccines over another as long as it's age-appropriate. Revised vaccines and boosters are formulated to protect against the latest variations of the virus. There are some slight differences in the types, how they work, and what recommendations have been made for boosters.

The two types of COVID-19 vaccines are:

Both types of vaccine offer similar levels of protection, but the Novavax vaccine is not provided to children under 12. According to the CDC, each vaccine is updated to protect against the newest or most commonly circulating strains of COVID-19.

Talk to a healthcare provider to determine which COVID-19 vaccine or booster is right for you.

How long protection lasts can also vary from person to person, but research suggests that strong protection against COVID-19 infection lasts for about five months after vaccination. Beyond that, immunity can weaken, but you will still have some protection.

A study published in spring 2023 revealed that even vaccines that had lost the ability to prevent infection completely were helpful in preventing hospitalization or death from a severe COVID-19 infection.

How long your protection lasts will depend on the strength of your immune system, how many total vaccinations and boosters you have received, and what new variants or strains emerge that might not be covered by your last booster formula.

Your overall health can impact how effectively and quickly your body develops protection after immunization and how long protection lasts.

Comorbidities (co-occurring illnesses or conditions) and chronic health problems can impact the strength and response of your immune system, so things like cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, and gastrointestinal diseases can limit the strength and duration of the protection your vaccine or booster provides.

Other factors that can influence the strength and duration of your protection after a COVID-19 vaccine or booster include:

Some vaccine-specific factors can affect how well an immunization works. This includes the dose you receive, the timing of your immunization, and what other vaccines or medications you may have received simultaneously.

If you were exposed to COVID-19 or think you may be infected with the virus, take an at-home test or see a healthcare provider for definitive results. If you currently have COVID-19, experts recommend waiting until you have recovered to become vaccinated against COVID-19.

Several vaccines and boosters have been developed since the COVID-19 virus emerged in late 2019. If you have not been vaccinated or received an updated vaccine after September 2023, the CDC recommends you receive a booster to ensure the most adequate protection from newer strains of COVID-19.

Talk to a healthcare provider if you are sick, have complex medical problems, or have other concerns about how well you will respond to the vaccine or a COVID-19 booster.

More here:

How Long After Getting a COVID-19 Booster Are You Immune? - Verywell Health

Latest COVID Vaccine Offers Increased Protection

In a promising development, recent studies indicate that the most recent COVID-19 vaccine provides 54% more protection against symptomatic infection compared to unvaccinated individuals. This news is a ray of hope amidst the ongoing pandemic and attests to the efficacy of the latest vaccines in combating the virus.

A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the JN 1 COVID-19 variant now accounts for more than 93 percent of cases. The variant is highly transmissible, posing a significant threat to public health. However, the latest COVID-19 vaccine appears to be effective in mitigating the JN 1 variants impact, providing similar protection levels against both the XBB lineage variants and the JN 1 variant.

Despite these promising results, the CDC expects that protection from the updated vaccine will decline over time, leading to a potential recommendation for an annual COVID-19 vaccine. As of February 2, only about 22 percent of people aged 18 and older have received the updated vaccine, according to CDC data.

The effectiveness of the 2023-24 updated COVID-19 vaccine against symptomatic infection was estimated in a recent study. The monovalent vaccine offered 54% protection from symptomatic illness, with effectiveness estimated at 57% in the 18-49 age group and 46% among those aged 50 and above. The US CDC recommends the vaccine for all individuals aged six months or older.

The study also provided early efficacy estimates of the updated vaccine against the JN 1 lineage, indicating that vaccine effectiveness is expected to wane over time since vaccination.

Data from three US cohort studies suggest that the bivalent COVID vaccine offers 54% protection in school-age children against lab-confirmed COVID infection and symptomatic disease. A study of almost 200,000 newborns in Sweden and Norway further showed that maternal receipt of the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy poses no risk to infants. Instead, it protects babies from serious complications.

Research published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation found that alternating arms when receiving multiple shots of the COVID-19 vaccine can lead to an improved immune response. This strategy can be particularly significant for people who do not respond well to vaccines due to age or health conditions. The study showed that switching arms increased blood antibody levels by up to four times, resulting in enhanced immunity to the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and an even stronger immune response to the Omicron variant. This effect persisted beyond 13 months after boosting.

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Latest COVID Vaccine Offers Increased Protection - Health News - Medriva

If you test positive for COVID-19, the duration of contagiousness can vary. This is because the virus can be shed (meaning released from the body through talking, exhaling, etc.) for anywhere from days to months depending on your age, vaccination status, immune status, severity of infection, and any preexisting conditions you may have.

Even so, the likelihood of transmission decreases as fewer viruses are shed over time. Based on current evidence, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends isolating for at least five days if you have mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 and at least 10 days if you have moderate to severe COVID-19.

Other interventions, such as face masks and the avoidance of close contact, can help prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 once you leave isolation.

This article explains how long COVID-19 is contagious and the variables that can increase or decrease the duration. It also offers tips on how to protect others if you or someone know gets COVID-19.

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As a general rule, most people who get COVID-19 are no longer contagious 10 days after the appearance of symptoms or after testing positive for the virus. While there is significant variation in the risk of transmission, most cases follow the same general timeline once symptoms develop.

When you are infected with COVID-19, the virus goes through what is called the incubation period. This is the time between exposure to the virus and the first appearance of symptoms. With COVID-19, the incubation period is generally two to three days following exposure.

During this period, viral particles will start to be shed through exhaling, talking, laughing, and other means. So, even if there are no symptoms, the infected person can still unwittingly transmit the virus to others. This is why the disease is so hard to control.

When symptoms do developand the number of viruses in the body (called the viral load) continues to increasea person will be at their peak contagiousness and most able to transmit it to others.

The current body of evidence suggests that the peak contagiousness of COVID-19 is around three days after the first appearance of symptoms. This is when the viral load in most people with COVID-19 is at its highest and right before the immune system reins the infection in.

However, this shouldn't suggest that everyone with COVID-19 peaks at the same time or even that a drop in your viral load corresponds to a drop in viral shedding.

A 2023 study from Northwestern University found that people with COVID-19 exhale as many as 800 copies of the virus per minute during the first eight days after symptoms appear. So, even though the viral load may be dropping, infectious viral particles may continue to be exhaled.

This further reinforces the need for face masks and other preventive measures once isolation typically ends (after the fifth day following symptom onset or a positive test).

There are situations in which the contagiousness of COVID-19 extends well beyond 10 days. According to the CDC, people with severe COVID-19 or those who are moderately to severely immunocompromised may remain contagious for longer and need to isolate for 20 days or even more.

Studies have repeatedly shown that the duration of viral shedding increases with the severity of the infection (such as when pneumonia or severe respiratory distress is involved). In such cases, the viral load can remain persistently high, increasing the duration of contagiousness to well over a month in rare instances.

If you are immunocompromised, the duration of contagiousness can be longer simply because it takes longer for the immune system to control the infection. While there is no rule as to how much longer that might be, a 2023 study in the journal Pathophysiology reported that immunocompromised people have a median viable viral shedding period of four weeks.

This includes people on chemotherapy, organ transplant recipients on immunosuppressants, and people with advanced untreated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Some COVID variants are more virulent (able to be passed) and pathogenic (able to cause illness) than previous strains. This is because, as the virus mutates, the mutations that are best able to survive are those that can escape immune detection.

When this happens, the immune cells that were once able to stop COVID-19 at the frontlines are less able to do so, increasing the risk of transmission.

An example of this is the Omicron variant first identified in 2021. Before Omicron, the peak contagiousness of the virus was two days before symptoms appeared and three days afterward, with viral shedding peaking on or before the appearance of symptoms.

With the emergence of Omicron, the peak of viral shedding was two to three days later.

It is possibleand perhaps likelythat future variants will become more virulent even if they aren't necessarily more pathogenic.

This is evidenced by the Delta variant, the 12th variant first seen in 2020. According to a study published in the Frontiers of Public Health, the duration of infectious shedding of the Delta variant was more than twice as long as the SARS-CoV-2 virus back in 2019.

It is estimated that more than 1 of every 3 COVID-19 infections in the United States are asymptomatic. This presents a significant public health challenge as viral sheddingand the spread of the viruscan still occur even in the absence of symptoms.

According to research from the CDC, no less than 24% of all COVID-19 infections in the United States are the result of asymptomatic transmission.

Even so, asymptomatic infections tend to be less virulent than symptomatic infections, partly because the peak viral load tends to be lower. In some cases, the duration of contagiousness may be no longer than three days.

Concerning infectious shedding, the average duration is nine days for someone symptomatic for COVID-19 vs. only six days for someone asymptomatic for COVID-19.

This supports the current CDC guidance recommending isolation for five days if you test positive for COVID-19, even if you have no symptoms.

Generally, COVID-19 infections in children and adolescents cause less severe illness and fewer deaths than in adults. Research suggests that children may also be less susceptible to COVID-19 infection.

According to a 2021 review of studies involving 41,640 children and 268,945 adults, the risk of COVID-19 transmission was 56% less to kids than to adults. Even within the same household, children are nearly 60% less likely than adults to get COVID-19 from another family member.

Among the possible explanations for this, children seem to harbor fewer receptors for COVID-19called angiotensin converting enzyme-2, or ACE-2, receptorsin their upper respiratory tracts. These receptors are proteins on cells to which viral particles attach and infect the cell. As children grow into adulthood, the number of receptors increases, providing the virus more targets for infection.

This doesn't mean that a child with COVID-19 is any less able to pass the virus than adults.

According to a study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, which monitored 1,394 families from 2020 to 2021, children were actually more likely to transmit COVID-19 than other members of their households.

This was explained by the fact that 75% of the children were asymptomatic for COVID-19 and may have unknowingly spread the virus through nasal secretions and hand-to-nose behaviors.

COVID-19 vaccination not only decreases your risk of infection and severe illness, but it may also significantly reduce your contagiousness.

A 2022 study published in JAMA Network Open was one of several that showed that fully vaccinated people have a shorter duration of infectious viral sheddingas well as a lower risk of transmitting it to othersthan either partially vaccinated or unvaccinated people.

The study, which involved high-risk healthcare workers, hospital patients, and caregivers, found that the duration of contagiousness was roughly 10 days for unvaccinated people and eight days for partially vaccinated peoplebut only four days for fully vaccinated people.

The current CDC guidance for COVID-19 isolation varies by the severity of infection, with special consideration given to those who are moderately or severely immunocompromised.

People with mild or asymptomatic illness should isolate through at least day 5, as follows:

If you are asymptomatic with COVID-19 but then develop symptoms, you would need to restart isolation at day 0. If you have mild COVID-19 but experience a recurrence or worsening symptoms, you would also need to restart at day 0.

People with moderate to severe COVID should isolate through at least day 10, as follows:

People with severe COVID-19 (such as those who have been hospitalized or placed on a ventilator) may need to extend their isolation to 20 days as they are often infectious well beyond 10 days.

People with COVID who are moderately or severely immunocompromised should isolate through at least Day 20, as follows:

You will also need to have two consecutive negative test results 24 hours apart to confidently end isolation. If not (or if your symptoms persist), you may need to isolate well beyond 20 days. Their healthcare provider can give them guidance on what is recommended.

Health experts generally agree that COVID-19 is here to stay and that continued vigilance is needed as new variants and outbreaks emerge.

To protect yourself and others from this highly contagious virus, the CDC recommends the following preventive measures:

The contagiousness of COVID-19 can vary, but people with mild or asymptomatic illness are usually no longer contagious after 10 days. People with moderate to severe illness or who are moderately to severely immunocompromised may remain contagious for 10 to 20 days or even longer.

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How Long Are You Contagious With COVID-19? - Verywell Health

1. In this randomized controlled trial, patients experiencing symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) saw significant improvement in symptom resolution times compared to the placebo group.

2. Further investigation is needed to specifically delineate the impact of simnotrelvir on older COVID-19 patients.

Evidence Rating Level: 1 (Excellent)

Study Rundown: COVID-19 has been a major public health concern since the initial pandemic occurrence in 2020. Though vaccinations are beneficial, they have not been completely effective at preventing the more recent strains of COVID-19. The new variants have strong immune evasion, thus warranting the search for a new drug affecting these variants. Simnotrelvir (SIM0417), an oral small-molecule antiviral agent targeting the SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro, has been proposed as a treatment. When used against the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro, simnotrelvir showed antiviral activity with acceptable side effects. In this double-blind randomized control trial, patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 had shorter-lasting symptoms after receiving simnotrelvir plus ritonavir. In the study, those experiencing respiratory symptoms showed more benefits from Simnotrelvir when compared to the placebo. Those in the treatment group had a decrease in their viral load until day nine when compared to those in the placebo group. The placebo group could have experienced unblinding due to the unique taste of the placebo drug, as it only contained excipients. This study only included younger individuals, so the safety and efficacy of this drug on the elderly remains unclear. Overall, early intervention with simnotrelvir plus ritonavir safely showed reduced length of symptoms in patients with COVID-19.

Click here to read the study in NEJM

In-Depth [randomized controlled trial]: A randomized controlled trial in China examined the effects of simnotrelvir on COVID-19 patients. The eligibility criteria included being 18 or older, having signs or symptoms of COVID-19 within three days before the first dose, having at least one symptom before the first dose, and having a mild or moderate severity of the illness. To determine the severity levels, the Food and Drug Administration provided definitions to help classify the participants in the study. The study provided exclusion criteria, including serious kidney, liver, or heart disease, along with the use or expected use of medications that interfere with cytochrome P-450 3A4. The symptoms of COVID-19 most commonly found in participants were dry throat (76.2%), cough (73.4%), and stuffy or runny nose (55.9%). The simnotrelvir group had a significantly shorter time for symptom resolution (180.1 hours; 95% Confidence Interval [CI], 162.1 to 201.6) than the placebo group did (216.0 hours; 95% CI, 203.4 to 228.1). The fever and systemic symptoms resolution times were similar in both groups. However, the simnotrelvir group experienced significantly faster resolution of respiratory symptoms (-41.4 hours; 95% CI, -70.7 to -13.3). From the time of receiving the first dose until day 29, there was a lower incidence of adverse events in the placebo group than in the simnotrelvir group (21.6% vs. 29.0%). The placebo group experienced two serious adverse events, whereas the simnotrelvir group did not experience any. In summary, this studys results suggest that simnotrelvir plus ritonavir is an effective and safe treatment for COVID-19, resulting in earlier respiratory symptom resolution.

Image: PD

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Simnotrelvir to reduces the symptoms of mild to moderate COVID-19 - 2 Minute Medicine

CSL and Arcturus Therapeutics have published follow-up analysis from a Phase III clinical trial indicating that ARCT-154, a self-amplifying messenger RNA (sa-mRNA) Covid-19 vaccine, offers a longer duration of immunity as a booster dose.

The study compared ARCT-154s immunogenicity against that of the conventional mRNA Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty one, three and six months after a booster dose.

The randomised, double-blind trial assessed the vaccines ability to induce immunity against both the original Wuhan strain and the Omicron BA.4/5 variant.

ARCT-154 was administered at a significantly lower dose of 5g as against Comirnaty at 30g.

Six months after vaccination, the analysis showed that ARCT-154 induced a longer immune response and had an advantage in antibody persistence over Comirnaty.

Participants in both groups initially had similar geometric mean titers (GMTs) of surrogate virus-neutralising antibodies against the Wuhan-Hu-1 strain.

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One month after receiving the booster, the ARCT-154 arm showed a higher immune response with a GMT of 5,390 versus the Comirnaty groups GMT of 3,738, resulting in a GMT ratio of 1.44.

By day 91, titers were equal to or greater than those on day 29 in 205 of the 369 ARCT-154 recipients, but only in 108 of the 356 Comirnaty recipients.

The different rates of antibody waning meant that by day 181, the GMTs of ARCT-154 recipients were 4,119, maintaining a GMT ratio of 2.21 between the vaccine groups.

A similar pattern of superior immunogenicity and a slower decline in neutralising antibodies following the ARCT-154 vaccine was also observed for the Omicron BA.4/5 variant.

CSL Vaccines Innovation Unit senior vice-president Jonathan Edelman said: These results further support sa-mRNAs differentiating attribute to provide prolonged protection against Covid-19 at lower doses.

Protecting the global public from viral respiratory diseases remains a top priority for us, and we look forward to continuing to collect and share data at the twelve-month post-booster mark.

Editorial content is independently produced and follows thehighest standardsof journalistic integrity. Topic sponsors are not involved in the creation of editorial content.

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CSL and Arcturus' Covid-19 booster found to prolong immunity - Clinical Trials Arena

Over the last two years, I have held numerous town halls across my district to hear from constituents about the issues our country is facing that concern them the most. I expected to hear about the cost of gas and groceries or our open southern border (and I did), but the number one concern I heard about was the weaponization of our government against its own citizens.

Americans saw the government use COVID-19 as an excuse to take over our lives, from vaccination cards to mask mandates to forced church closures. We must ensure this can never happen again.

One way President Biden and blue city Democrats used COVID-19 for government overreach was public health emergency declarations. Many cities, like Washington, D.C., extended their public health emergencies for years on end in order to enact policies like vaccine passports. For several months, those in D.C. who chose not to take the vaccine were not allowed to eat in restaurants.

Its hard to believe something like that could happen in the United States of America. Thats why I introduced the Public Health Emergency Accountability Act, which would automatically terminate public health emergency declarations after 90 days without an act of Congress to extend them.

Democrats also used these declarations to enforce strict mask mandates that lasted for years in some cities. Bidens Center for Disease Control (CDC) forced every American to wear masks on planes for 14 months without ever passing a law this is blatantly unconstitutional.

I joined a lawsuit against the CDC in 2022 that helped end the illegal mask mandate. I also co-sponsored the Freedom to Fly Maskless Act, which if passed would prevent the CDC from ever issuing another unconstitutional mandate.

Many of our military patriots in my district who serve at Fort Novosel and Maxwell-Gunter and all over the nation were fired for refusing to comply with Bidens unconstitutional military and government vaccine mandate. It is an absolute disgrace that these service members had their livelihoods stripped away because of a politically motivated, unscientific mandate.

I stood against the National Defense Authorization Act that contained the military vaccine mandate, and co-sponsored legislation to reinstate those who were fired with backpay.

Not only did Bidens bureaucrats force us to wear masks and take an experimental vaccine, they also tracked who complied and who did not. In 2021, the House passed a bill to provide $400 million in taxpayer funding for a computer database to record when vaccines were administered to individuals.

This was just another disturbing example of the government doing everything in their power to seize control of Americansand exert federal control in every aspect of our daily lives, but even more disturbingly, 80 Republicans voted for it, including members of our own states delegation.

I opposed the vaccine database, and Ill continue to fight any legislation that infringes on Americans constitutional rights. Americans should be able to trust their government, and they should never have to fear retaliation from our bloated bureaucracy for exercising their constitutional rights.

Congressman Barry Moore is the U.S. Representative for AL-02 and lives in Enterprise, Alabama with his family. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee and House Agriculture Committee in Congress.

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [emailprotected].

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U.S. Rep. Barry Moore: The COVID-19 vaccine and weaponization of - 1819 News

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Is it COVID, flu or RSV? Here are the CDC's latest guidelines for 2024 - The Arizona Republic

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COVID vaccine: Updated shots are 54% effective for adults, CDC says - USA TODAY

Updated 31 January 2024

Everything you need to know aboutthe Covid-19 vaccine, including its safety, effectiveness and side effects.

Our fortnightly Heart Matters newsletter includes the latest updates about coronavirus when you have a heart condition, as well as support for healthy eating, staying active and your emotional wellbeing.

Although catching Covid may seem less serious now, and even if youve had it before, it can still cause serious illness.

The vaccine is the best way to protect yourself from becoming seriously unwell or being hospitalised from Covid-19.

Thats why its particularly important for vulnerable people with a heart condition or a long-term condition to be vaccinated.

Covid can also lead to long-lasting symptoms (long Covid), even for people who werent seriously unwell when they first caught Covid.

Yes, the vaccine is safe for people with heart and circulatory conditions. No vaccine is approved unless it is considered safe for people with long-term conditions, including heart conditions.

Visit our Covid-19 vaccines and myocarditispage for up to date information about the risk of myocarditis and pericarditis.

Having high blood pressure generally wont stop you getting the vaccine. If your blood pressure is very high on the day of the appointment, particularly if you feel unwell, ask your doctor or the vaccine centre for advice.

You can also have the vaccine if your blood pressure is low. Let the person who is giving you the vaccine know if you feel faint or lightheaded.

You may be asked to wait a few days between surgery and getting your vaccine. This is so that any reaction you have to the operation can be separated from a reaction to the vaccination.

If youve had a stent fitted (angioplasty), it doesnt necessarily need to cause any delay with getting your vaccine, especially if the procedure was planned and there are no complications. If youre not sure, check with the medical team who looked after you when you had your stent fitted.

Yes, the Covid-19 vaccine is safe for people taking heart medications. This includes beta blockers, statins, blood pressure drugs and other heart medications. Your medication wont stop the vaccine from working, and the vaccine wont cause problems with your medication.

There is special advice about having the vaccine for people who are taking warfarin or other anticoagulants.

In general, yes, but you should let the person giving you the vaccine know that you are taking an anticoagulant. As with any injection, there is some risk of bleeding.

The Covid-19 vaccine is injected into the muscle of your upper arm. Injections into your muscle may bleed a little more than injections that are given under the skin, but less than those that are given into a vein. If you are taking a blood thinner such as warfarin, or a new anticoagulant, the bleeding may take a little longer to stop and you may get more bruising on your upper arm.

Public Health England and the Department of Health have said that you can have the vaccine if your anticoagulant treatment is stable. That means that you will have been taking the same dose for a while and that if you are on warfarin, that your INR checks are up to date and that your latest INR level was in the right range.

Yes, the vaccine is safe for people taking clopidogrel and other antiplatelet medications. You may experience a little more bruising around the injection site.

Yes. Vaccines are only approved for use after being tested on tens of thousands of people. All of the approved vaccines are shown to be safe.

In the UK, tens of millions of people have now had a Covid-19 vaccine, and reports of serious side effects have been very small.

The Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) continues to monitor Covid-19 vaccines to make sure they meet strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.

Covid vaccines have been proven to be very effective at preventing serious illness, hospitalisation, and death from Covid-19.

Results of the COALESCE study, published in January 2024, looked at the health records of 67 million people aged 5 and over in the UK from 1 June to 30 September 2022.

The researchers found that not having all eligible Covid-19 vaccine doses was associated with more hospitalisations and deaths across all age groups.

The study also found that people aged 75 and above, who did not receive all the doses they were eligible for, were twice as likely to become severely ill with Covid-19 compared to those who were fully vaccinated.

The researchers estimated that 7,180 hospitalisations and deaths could have been prevented if the UK population had been fully vaccinated in the four months from 1 June to 30 September 2022.

A February 2023 report by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) suggests that six months after the bivalent vaccine, most people can expect some degree of protection, with around 60% vaccine effectiveness against serious illness from Covid-19.

People aged 75 and over are also eligible for the Sanofi/GSK monovalent booster vaccine. In a September 2023 study of over 14,000 people from this age group, the Sanofi/GSK booster was shown to protect against hospitalisation in the weeks following vaccination.

We know that boosters offer more protection against serious illness and hospitalisation from Covid-19, which is why its important to have a booster if you are offered one.

Visit our webpage about the safety of theOxford/AstraZeneca vaccine,including side effects and reports of blood clots.

Like all medicines, vaccines can cause side effects, although many people don't get any side effects at all. For the Pfizer vaccine (like the other vaccines), the vast majority of side effects are mild and short-term. The most common are pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain or chills. Dont worry if your arm starts to hurt the next day, this isnt a cause for concern and is usually gone within a day or two. You can take paracetamol to treat any of these side effects.

For the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, side effects tend to be stronger with the second dose. The types of side effects are the same and should still only last a day or two.

Often side effects are just a sign that the vaccine is doing its job: itcan happen with many vaccines that some people might feel slightly unwell because their immune system is responding to the protein, but this is not a Covid-19 illness and the vaccine cant give you coronavirus.

Like all medicines, vaccines can cause side effects, although many people don't get any side effects at all. For the Moderna vaccine (like the other vaccines), the vast majority of side effects are mild and short-term. The most common are pain at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, joint pain or chills. You can take paracetamol to treat any of these side effects.

For the Moderna vaccine,side effects tend to be stronger with the second dose. The types of side effects are the same and should still only last a day or two.

Often the side effects are just a sign that the vaccine is doing its job: itcan happen with many vaccines that some people might feel slightly unwell because their immune system is responding to the protein, but this is not a Covid-19 illness and the vaccine cant give you coronavirus.

As with other Covid vaccines, youre very unlikely to get any serious side effects, as these are very rare. Some people experience temporary side effects such as soreness at the injection site, tiredness, headache, fever, muscle pain, or joint pain. You can take paracetamol to treat these and they dont usually last more than a couple of days.

If you are eligible for a Covid-19 vaccine, you should have been invited by your GP or the NHS to book an appointment.

You need to be registered with a GP to book your vaccine appointment. Anyone in the UK can register with a GP, and you wont be asked for any proof of identity or your immigration status to register.

It may take a few weeks to build up protection from your first dose. Your body should respond more quickly to any future doses.

Having a fear of needles (trypanophobia) is very common - it affects up to 1 in 10 people and is nothing to be ashamed of. Visit our information on managing your fear of needles.

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Covid vaccines: your questions answered - BHF - British Heart Foundation

In a recent study published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers estimated the effectiveness of the 2023-24 updated coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine.

The Advisory Committee on the Immunization Practices of the United States (US) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended on September 12, 2023, that all individuals aged six months or older receive the 2023-24 updated monovalent COVID-19 vaccine. The updated vaccine contains a component from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron XBB.1.5 lineage and lacks ancestral strain components.

The JN.1 lineage was identified in the US in September 2023, which harbors 30 additional mutations in the spike (S) protein compared to XBB.1.5. Real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results can help distinguish some SARS-CoV-2 lineages. S-gene target failure (SGTF) is detected in JN.1 and other BA.2.86 lineages, whereas S-gene target presence (SGTP) is detected in most lineages from 2023, including XBB.

Study: Early Estimates of Updated 20232024 (Monovalent XBB.1.5) COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Against Symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection Attributable to Co-Circulating Omicron Variants Among Immunocompetent Adults Increasing Community Access to Testing Program, United States, September 2023January 2024. Image Credit:New Africa/ Shutterstock

In the present study, researchers estimated the effectiveness of the 2023-24 updated COVID-19 vaccine against symptomatic infection. They included tests conducted between September 21, 2023, and January 14, 2024, among adults reporting at least one symptom. Cases were individuals with a positive nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT).

Controls were individuals with a negative NAAT. The team excluded tests from Janssen vaccine recipients, Novavax recipients, immunocompromised individuals, those who received the most recent vaccine dose within a week preceding testing, and those with a positive COVID-19 test within the past 90 days.

Vaccine effectiveness (VE) against symptomatic COVID-19 was estimated by comparing the odds of receipt of the updated vaccine versus non-receipt among cases and controls. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios. VE was computed separately by SGTP and SGTF status. Test-positive samples with reduced or null S-gene amplification were deemed to have an SGTF, whereas those without SGTF were considered SGTP.

Of over 9,200 NAAT results for individuals with symptoms of COVID-19-like illness, 3,295 tested SARS-CoV-2-positive. Around 1,125 individuals received the updated COVID-19 vaccine seven days earlier. More controls received the updated vaccine than cases. The median time from the last dose among updated vaccine recipients was 60 days for cases and 51 days for controls.

Nearly 8,100 individuals did not receive the updated vaccine. Of these, 30% were non-vaccinated and 70% were vaccinated. Among the vaccinated, the median time since vaccination was 378 days for cases and 363 days for controls. The estimated VE was 57% in the 1849 age group and 46% among those aged 50. VE was estimated at 58% and 49% among people tested 759 and 60119 days after receiving the updated vaccine, respectively.

There were 679 tests available with S-gene target results. Of these, 258 showed SGTF, and 421 exhibited SGTP. VE was not precise for tests with SGTF during the 759 days post-receipt of the updated vaccine, given the emergence of JN.1 in the US. VE during the 60119 days post-receipt of the updated vaccine was 60% for tests with SGTP and 49% for those with SGTF.

The study provided early efficacy estimates of the updated monovalent XBB.1.5 vaccine against symptomatic infection and the first VE estimates against the JN.1 lineage. These VE estimates include data up to 119 days post-vaccination. However, VE will likely wane with time since vaccination, as observed after the original monovalent or bivalent COVID-19 vaccination. Prior infection history, medical conditions, and vaccination status were self-reported, thereby subject to recall bias.

Besides, the VE estimates were computed for a population that opted to be tested for COVID-19; therefore, the estimates are subject to selection biases. Further, coverage of the updated vaccine is low among adults and varies by age. Taken together, the updated monovalent vaccine provided 54% protection from symptomatic illness. Waning of the VE is expected over time, especially against less severe outcomes.

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XBB.1.5 updated COVID vaccine booster offers 54% increased protection against symptomatic infection - News-Medical.Net