This week's message from the doctor
My apologies for it being posted late, I only received my copy today. Derek
Hello Everyone,
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised the government that it does not recommend giving the Covid vaccines to 12 to 15 yr olds. The Committee feels that having a jab does not give a particular child increased protection as hospital admissions for this group is quite low. However, did not take into account the wider benefits to the whole of society where having youngsters vaccinated would stop the flow of the virus to other more vulnerable groups. The argument that giving the Covid vaccine to young people would make a marginal difference to their protection is also gaining much criticism from doctors and scientists outside the JCVI. The global evidence seems to indicate that there would be a substantial benefit to this age group as well as reducing the incidence of ‘Long Covid.’ Data from Public health England (PHE) shows that there were over 60,000 cases in the 10-19 yr old age group in the last 2 weeks. About 0.5 – 0.7% of under-18s get hospitalised. Over 2,300 of this age group have been admitted to hospital with Covid since the beginning of July. One in 7 cases of under 18s with Covid infection will go on to have persistent symptoms of fatigue, muscular aches, breathlessness for several months. Some will go on to develop chronic disabilities. Currently, there are 11,000 children in the UK who have had these symptoms for over 12 months. It’s not just young people with underlying problems either – ‘healthy’ children can get a severe infection, become hospitalised and go on to develop Long Covid. Myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart muscle – is a rare side effect of the mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna. The incidence is about 13 cases per one million second doses of the vaccine in 12-39 yr olds. However, it is usually very mild and resolves itself within a few weeks without any active treatment. No one knows yet why boys are more affected than girls but it appears to be linked to sex hormone differences affecting the immune response. Even taking this into account research from North American shows substantial benefits to vaccinating the young. That is why many European countries have already started the programme as well as the US, Canada and Israel. In the Southern US states such as Louisana which have low rates of vaccination – Covid cases and hospitalisations are high even in children.
So will be the government take the advice from the JCVI or go ahead and authorise vaccination? We await their decision. We are still waiting for ‘official ‘ confirmation of the booster jabs although it is fairly clear that they will go ahead. Hopefully, the programme should start in the next few weeks. GPs were hoping to give the flu and the Covid jabs at the same time but delay in government decision making has meant that we have had to organise the flu jab clinics independently. We may be able to give both together in the future. When your turn comes for the booster jab please do have it – we know they work in older people whose immunity is reducing after the first two doses over 6 months ago. Israel has started its booster programme already and found that 12 days after this third dose there was a tenfold reduction in severe illness in those who had a booster.
At present just over 70% of the total UK population has been immunised which is pretty good. That also means though there is a substantial number of people who have still not had both jabs. Over 1 million over the 60s are still not fully vaccinated. This may be due to vaccine refusal or hesitancy. If you are still unsure about getting a vaccine – please speak to a health professional about it. Right now we have a high number of infections in the country and this will probably surge again with schools opening up and people mixing more. About 950 people are admitted to hospital each day with Covid but many, because they have been vaccinated, are only having to spend a few days as in-patients while they get help with their breathing. A few still go on to need an intensive care bed and some die. Most deaths are in people who have not been fully vaccinated. The vaccines may not stop you from catching the virus but they will almost certainly stop you from needing hospital treatment and getting severe complications such as long term disability and death. Vaccines will also reduce the incidence of Long Covid.
What about the next few months? If there is a surge in infections then we could possibly be looking at reimposing more restrictions such as mandatory masks, isolation of contacts, no mass events with the rule of six indoors and working from home again. The government will be very reluctant to impose an all-out lockdown unless we get a different more contagious and deadly variant than the Delta.
Keep Safe Everyone
Bye for now
Dr M Tanvir Jamil
Senior Partner
Burnham Health Centre
Hello Everyone,
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised the government that it does not recommend giving the Covid vaccines to 12 to 15 yr olds. The Committee feels that having a jab does not give a particular child increased protection as hospital admissions for this group is quite low. However, did not take into account the wider benefits to the whole of society where having youngsters vaccinated would stop the flow of the virus to other more vulnerable groups. The argument that giving the Covid vaccine to young people would make a marginal difference to their protection is also gaining much criticism from doctors and scientists outside the JCVI. The global evidence seems to indicate that there would be a substantial benefit to this age group as well as reducing the incidence of ‘Long Covid.’ Data from Public health England (PHE) shows that there were over 60,000 cases in the 10-19 yr old age group in the last 2 weeks. About 0.5 – 0.7% of under-18s get hospitalised. Over 2,300 of this age group have been admitted to hospital with Covid since the beginning of July. One in 7 cases of under 18s with Covid infection will go on to have persistent symptoms of fatigue, muscular aches, breathlessness for several months. Some will go on to develop chronic disabilities. Currently, there are 11,000 children in the UK who have had these symptoms for over 12 months. It’s not just young people with underlying problems either – ‘healthy’ children can get a severe infection, become hospitalised and go on to develop Long Covid. Myocarditis – an inflammation of the heart muscle – is a rare side effect of the mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna. The incidence is about 13 cases per one million second doses of the vaccine in 12-39 yr olds. However, it is usually very mild and resolves itself within a few weeks without any active treatment. No one knows yet why boys are more affected than girls but it appears to be linked to sex hormone differences affecting the immune response. Even taking this into account research from North American shows substantial benefits to vaccinating the young. That is why many European countries have already started the programme as well as the US, Canada and Israel. In the Southern US states such as Louisana which have low rates of vaccination – Covid cases and hospitalisations are high even in children.
So will be the government take the advice from the JCVI or go ahead and authorise vaccination? We await their decision. We are still waiting for ‘official ‘ confirmation of the booster jabs although it is fairly clear that they will go ahead. Hopefully, the programme should start in the next few weeks. GPs were hoping to give the flu and the Covid jabs at the same time but delay in government decision making has meant that we have had to organise the flu jab clinics independently. We may be able to give both together in the future. When your turn comes for the booster jab please do have it – we know they work in older people whose immunity is reducing after the first two doses over 6 months ago. Israel has started its booster programme already and found that 12 days after this third dose there was a tenfold reduction in severe illness in those who had a booster.
At present just over 70% of the total UK population has been immunised which is pretty good. That also means though there is a substantial number of people who have still not had both jabs. Over 1 million over the 60s are still not fully vaccinated. This may be due to vaccine refusal or hesitancy. If you are still unsure about getting a vaccine – please speak to a health professional about it. Right now we have a high number of infections in the country and this will probably surge again with schools opening up and people mixing more. About 950 people are admitted to hospital each day with Covid but many, because they have been vaccinated, are only having to spend a few days as in-patients while they get help with their breathing. A few still go on to need an intensive care bed and some die. Most deaths are in people who have not been fully vaccinated. The vaccines may not stop you from catching the virus but they will almost certainly stop you from needing hospital treatment and getting severe complications such as long term disability and death. Vaccines will also reduce the incidence of Long Covid.
What about the next few months? If there is a surge in infections then we could possibly be looking at reimposing more restrictions such as mandatory masks, isolation of contacts, no mass events with the rule of six indoors and working from home again. The government will be very reluctant to impose an all-out lockdown unless we get a different more contagious and deadly variant than the Delta.
Keep Safe Everyone
Bye for now
Dr M Tanvir Jamil
Senior Partner
Burnham Health Centre
