People are still doing those things, otherwise the rates would be much higher than they were now. so they seem to be going with that, but then with that additional extra vaccination to that booster programme to mentor the programme to get a dose of the vaccine to 12 15 year olds, so they are relying on vaccination as the central defence, if you like him going into the autumn and winter. plus testing from isolating if you test positive, and then these sort of voluntary actions and hoping that we ll see them through the winter within that plan b being where you move into some sort of mandatory action, so, for example, making it compulsory to wear facemasks and example, making it compulsory to wearfacemasks and in example, making it compulsory to wear facemasks and in some places, bringing in those covid passports from the vaccine passports which have been controversial here. that is in plan b, though, interestingly, the government is encouraging those businesses which are already choosi
Will be among priority groups. here s our health editor, hugh pym. at a carpentry class in surrey for men who ve retired, it was clear there was enthusiasm about the prospect of having a booster covid jab. i think that the whole scheme is good, and i think i feel better for having myjabs, so, yes, i d have it immediately. i always have a flu jab once a year, so i can t see that there s going to be any problem having an extra booster. i would have the boosterjab, as i said, but i would - like to learn more about it. and now it ll become a reality, with this age group among the first to get a third dose. the name of the game, the mantra, if you like, is to stay on top of things. staying on top means taking pre emptive action, according to the vaccine expert committee. jcvi advise us that adults who are more vulnerable to severe covid 19 disease should be offered a booster vaccine in order to maintain a high level of protection through the next few months, through this
Winter particularly. officials today used this chart to show how effective vaccines are at preventing people with covid from needing hospital treatment. among those aged 65 and over, they were more than 90% effective up to nine weeks after a second dose. but they wane slightly the further away you got from that second jab. medical regulators said it was safe to use az, pfizer and moderna as boosterjabs, but thejcvi recommended pfizer or a half dose of moderna because they got the best immune responses, regardless of what had been given for the first two doses. though, if there were allergy problems, az could be used. at what point will double jabs start covid in one arm and flu in the other? double jabs can start now, subject to the availability of both products.