‘Booster jabs best way of preventing more restrictions’
EXPERTS believe that widespread uptake of booster jabs is the best way of preventing Covid restrictions this winter.
With Covid cases in Wales still very high (though there is some evidence they are falling) the Welsh Government is encouraging everyone who is offered a jab to take up the offer of a third vaccine.
However there are still many people in Wales who haven’t taken up the offer of a booster jab or are awaiting an invitation.
Given that it will be such an essential part of the Welsh Government’s Covid control strategy, The Post has gone through all the key questions people have about the state of the booster jab roll-out.
What exactly is the eligibility criteria for a booster in Wales and how are people being contacted?
The Welsh Government is following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) when it comes to vaccinations. At present the advice is that the following groups in Wales are currently eligible for a booster jab:
those living in residential care homes for older adults all adults aged 40 years or over frontline health and social care workers
all those aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe Covid-19 (as set out in the green book) adult carers adult household contacts (aged 16 or over) of immunosuppressed individuals
How do you arrange your booster jab?
According to a Welsh Government spokesman you do not need to proactively arrange your jabs.
He said: “Those who are eligible for a booster will receive an appointment via letter or phone when it is their turn. They do not need to contact their health board.”
How many people eligible for a booster have had one?
Below are the figures for uptake of the booster vaccines (according to PHW). Care home residents: 78.9% Care home workers: 61.8% 80 years and older: 78.2% Healthcare workers: 71.4% 75-79 years: 82.1% 70-74 years: 80%
Clinically extremely vulnerable 16-69 years: 39.4% 65-69 years: 63.2% Clinical risk groups 12-64 years: 14.8% 60-64 years: 26.4% 55-59 years: 19.7% 50-54 years: 16.3% 40-49 years: 12%
What should you do if you are eligible for a booster and have not yet been offered one?
According to the Welsh Government everyone eligible should have had an invite for their booster by the end of the year.
The spokesman said: “Please wait to be invited, your health board will contact you when it’s your turn. Please do not contact your GP to ask about appointments.
“Most people who are eligible for a vaccine in priority groups 1 to 9 should get an invite by the end of December.”
However he added that people that had become carers or now had an immunosuppressed person in their house should let their health board know.
The spokesman said: “If your circumstances have changed since your second dose (for example, if you are now an unpaid carer or you have become a household contact of an immunosuppressed person) please contact your local health board.”
Have there been challenges in getting people to come forward to booster jabs?
According to Simon Williams, who is a behavioral scientist and a senior lecturer in people and organisation at Swansea University, most people have already made the decision about whether they are going to get a booster jab but often fail to act even if they want one.
He told the Post: “Our research at Swansea University tends to suggest that the majority of people who have had their first two doses intend on getting a booster jab.
“By now, many adults have made up their minds as to whether they will get a vaccine or not, and so for those who are already vaccinated, they see boosters as a way to simply ‘extend’ their immunity.
“However, in psychology, we often see something called the intentionaction gap.
“This is where our best intentions for new year’s resolutions – to go on a diet or cut down on alcohol – often fail to turn into action.
“And so there is no guarantee that all of those saying they want a booster will get one – and there are a number of reasons why.
“Two of the biggest factors driving up vaccine uptake have been risk perception, that is how worried about Covid we are, and social norms, that is peer pressure.
“And so, many people are less worried about Covid this winter than last, and that will be one reason why people may not feel in a hurry to get a booster if at all.
“We see less mask wearing, we know hospitalisations and deaths are much lower, and we have become ‘habituated’ to Covid – it’s not such a new or scary disease now, especially now that we have vaccines. Secondly, there is less peer pressure to get the boosters than the initial jabs at the moment.”
So how do you encourage people to take up the vaccine?
Dr Williams said: “Firstly, we need to continue to emphasise that Covid hasn’t gone away and that because immunity wanes from vaccines, without a booster, people – particularly those in clinically vulnerable groups – become vulnerable again. Also, there has been a lot of pressure built up on hospitals in Wales – particularly critical care wards, where recent data suggests that one quarter of all critical care beds are occupied by Covid patients – as well as the medical staff who are of course more burned out than last year due to the cumulative strain. So boosters are a key way to reduce the threat on services and the vulnerable which in turn means that any type of new restrictions become less likely.
“However, this social pressure will build over time, as we saw with the first and second doses – as more and more people have their booster, it will encourage others to do the same. Also, the threat of having more measures looming in winter might nudge some into having their booster, or having it sooner than they might otherwise.”