Concerns about delay of Covid second dose

HEADS of the Doctors’ Association UK, representing frontline NHS medics, have written to the Health Secretary, the vaccine minister and head of the NHS raising serious concerns about the delay of the coronavirus vaccine from 21 days to up to 12 weeks.

This comes at the same time as Israel, from a real world trial, reports that the first dose of the PfizerBioNtech vaccine offers only 33% protection.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization has stated – but not apparently on any scientifically tested data – that the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine first dose offers 89% protection and the manufacturer’s own trial gave results of 52% protection.

It might be asked, what is going on here and why is there such a wide discrepancy in claims about level of protection?

One answer could be that there is no one-size-fits-all for protection as people’s immune systems, receiving the vaccine, differ in health and strength. It is known, for example, that elderly people have weaker immune systems than the young simply because their bodies produce less immune cells. We cannot expect everybody’s immune reaction to a vaccine to be the same.

The Doctors’ Association letter asks the government to ensure that there is careful monitoring of the health of those whose second dose has been delayed.

Another question arising from the delay in giving the second dose is whether this dose will act as a booster if people lose protection in the postponement of the first dose.

A booster only works if it builds on the protection already given. Going on this logic, there is a risk that delay