Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
From new variant to boosters, everything you need to know
Just as it felt like we were nearing the end of the Covid pandemic, the picture has changed dramatically over the past week. A new, potentially more infectious variant has been discovered, which our vaccines could be less effective against. The Omicron strain has already been detected in the UK and tougher measures are now in place. The booster jabs roll-out has been expanded too. So, what does it mean for our area? Phil Hayes spoke to local GPS and health chiefs...
What’s changed in the booster jab roll-out and when can you get yours?
On Monday afternoon, it was confirmed that the Covid booster vaccine roll-out is being extended to all people aged 18 and over, as early evidence suggests higher antibody levels may offer better protection against the Omicron variant. Previously, only those aged 40 and over had been eligible.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation also advised the wait between second and third jabs should be cut from six months to three.
The NHS will contact people in priority order to invite them for a booster.
But how soon that will be may depend on where you live. In Herne Bay, 80% of people aged 50 and over have already had a third dose. People in those age groups in Canterbury and Whitstable have also been invited for a booster.
But in Faversham, the booster roll-out is only being extended to the 60-69 group this week.
So, someone in their 30s in the Canterbury district is likely to get a third dose quicker than in Faversham. The government aims to offer all eligible adults a booster by the end of January.
Children aged 12-15 will also now be invited for second doses.
Why has the roll-out been slower in some areas?
In Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable, GPS got off to a flying start last year after the first vaccines were approved. The coastal towns also have a more elderly population. This means more residents have become eligible for their second and third jabs faster than in other areas.
Dr Gaurav Gupta, from Faversham Medical Practice, who has been leading the town’s vaccine roll-out, said: “Both the practices in Faversham are working very hard to provide booster vaccinations to our patients, in spite of the growing pressures on NHS services.
“We are contacting patients in the order of their age and also continuing to vaccinate housebound and vulnerable patients.”
Is the Omicron variant already here?
There had been no confirmed cases in Kent as we went to press - but new information is emerging on a daily basis. The Omicron strain was first reported in South Africa on November 24. Yet it has since been identified in a test sample in the Netherlands taken between November 19 and 23. There have been 13 confirmed cases in England. Dr Jeremy Carter, of Park Surgery and Herne and Broomfield Surgery in Herne Bay, says when GPS treat someone who has had a positive PCR test, they are not told which variant the patient has. He said: “Over the last three weeks we have been seeing a slight increase in numbers [with Covid]. We have seen some in double-vaccinated patients and a couple in triple vaccinated patients.
“We just don’t know yet whether Omicron is already in our area.”
Dr John Ribchester, of Whistable Medical Practice, says he has also seen more people with Covid symptoms recently.
Will there be a new wave of cases, hospitalisations and deaths?
Dr Carter says Omicron has the potential to be
a “game changer”. There is a strong consensus among scientists that it is the most transmissable variant so far.
Vaccines may also be less effective against it and therefore a spike in cases could occur.
But we do not yet know how severe the illness is when people test positive for the new variant.
Dr Angelique Coetzee, the doctor who first spotted Omicron in South Africa, described patients’ symptoms as “extremely mild”.
What’s the current picture in our area?
Before any confirmed cases of the new variant have been announced, infections have been rising anyway in Canterbury and Faversham.
The Canterbury district’s infection rate is now 480.3 per 100,000 people after cases rose 29.2% in a week. The highest rate in the district is 827 in Whitstable West. Meanwhile, cases more than doubled in Canterbury Central & Westgate in
the week up to November 25.
Faversham West has an infection rate of 924.6, with cases up 50.9%. The east of the town has a rate of 796.4 after a 15% rise in cases.
The number of people in east Kent’s hospitals with Covid almost halved from 60 at the start of last month to 35 on November 23. But this figure has now risen to 44, with five patients on a ventilator.
Five Covid deaths were recorded in the Canterbury district last month, compared to two in October. In Swale the figures were seven compared to one.
Dr Carter says his practice is “busier than ever”. “We are definitely seeing a large number of patients who are ill with flu-like illness and have viral infections,” he said.
Dr Ribchester said: “There is a nasty respiratory infection going around which could or could not be Covid. People need to keep getting tested.”
Paula Wilkins, chief nurse of the NHS Kent and
Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, says getting vaccinated and having the booster is the best defence against the virus.
“Covid-19 had not gone away before news of the Omicron variant came out,” she said.
“Infection rates across Kent and Medway have been high for a number of weeks and it is important that everyone protects themselves and helps to limit the spread.
“The dominant variant in Kent and Medway is still the Delta variant and the vaccines are known to give very good protection against the virus – this has been shown by the relatively low numbers of people getting seriously ill and needing hospital treatment.”
What measures have been enforced and could there be more?
Face masks are now compulsory in shops and on public transport.
Anyone who has been in contact with someone who has caught the Omicron strain must now self-isolate, even if they are vaccinated - while everyone entering the UK must take a PCR test and isolate until they receive a negative result.
Local health chiefs are urging people to abide by the current social distancing rules.
“They really do matter,” said Dr Ribchester. “If we want to avoid more restrictive measures we have got to stick to the advice as it comes out.”
If the Omicron variant does become dominant, Moderna has said it would take about 100 days to produce a new vaccine to tackle it.
Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay says viruses “constantly mutate”, with more new strains likely in the future.
“If we go into lockdowns awaiting a new vaccine formulation upon each new variant and a time lag of months to vaccinate everybody, then we’ll never be free of this,” he added.
“The only logical conclusion is that we have to learn to live with this ever-changing virus.”
Will Christmas be cancelled again?
Last year family gatherings in Kent were cancelled just days before Christmas after the county was placed under Tier 4 restrictions.
Mr Mackinlay says he has already heard of school nativities and office parties being axed in the wake of the news about Omicron.
On Tuesday morning Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, sparked fury among some Tory MPS by saying the public should decrease their social contacts.
But later that day Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “About Christmas parites and nativity plays - we don’t want people to cancel such events.”
Health secretary Sajid Javid has urged people to be “sensible” around festivities and consider taking lateral flow tests.