Moderna boosters, recommended by FDA independent advisory panel
65 and older and for adults who are at high risk of severe illness
Six months
Half dose
Jacqueline Miller, head of Moderna’s infectious-disease therapeutic area
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/10/14/moderna-booster-shot-fda/
Six to eight months after vaccination, antibody levels dropped in vaccine recipients.
A half-dose booster at least six months after initial vaccination restored antibodies levels
People from original trial, a clear uptick in breakthrough infections this July and August
UK ONS
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19/latestinsights#cis
Week ending 9 October 2021
People that that had COVID-19 in the week
Up in England, Wales and NI
Down in Scotland
1.63% in England (1 in 60 people)
2.18% in Wales (1 in 45 people)
0.82% in Northern Ireland (1 in 120 people)
1.26% in Scotland (1 in 80 people)
People testing positive for antibodies
93.6%
Mortality displacement did not offset excess deaths by mid-2021
Some evidence of mortality displacement during the pandemic
Mortality displacement, when vulnerable people die sooner than expected
Potentially leading to a lower-than-average period of mortality
These periods of below average mortality did not offset the high number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic
3 January 2020 to 2 July 2021
97,981 excess deaths in England and Wales
(compared to what we would expect in a non-pandemic period).
Within 28 days of a positive test, 138,379
Certificated, 161,798
Zoe data
https://covid.joinzoe.com/data#levels-over-time
https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/third-wave-reaches-new-peak
Long covid
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19/latestinsights#cis
Long covid as of 5 September 2021
An estimated 1.1 million in the UK experiencing long COVID
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19/latestinsights#cis
1.7% of the total population were experiencing self-reported long COVID
Up from 970,000 (1.5%) at 1 August 2021
831,000 (77%) first had (or suspected they had) COVID-19 at least 12 weeks previously
405,000 (37%) first had (or suspected they had) COVID-19 at least one year previously
Symptoms adversely affected the day-to-day activities of around two-thirds (65%) of those with self-reported long COVID
Fatigue (56%)
Shortness of breath (40%)
Loss of smell (32%)
Difficulty concentrating (31%)
Professor Tim Spector
The UK seems to be slowly waking up to the fact that COVID cases are too high,
but the reality is they’ve been soaring for months and many countries have put us on their red list.
Infections remain high in young people, and look to be spilling over into the 35-55 year olds.
If these increases creep into the over 55s it could spell disaster for the NHS this winter.
Herd immunity
Minimum 85%
With cases so high, it’s clear that herd immunity isn’t happening
Current symptoms in vaccinated and children
Runny nose, 76%
Headache, 75%
Sneezing, 66%
Sore throat, 53%
Cough 53%
Loss of smell or taste
UK official data
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk