Covid vaccine for under 75

My husband has been quite ill with raised temperature, and the coughing !!!!!

IOMGran

Stripey, as I said it is constantly mutating, that means it's a slightly different virus, hence the need for evolving vaccines to match it. Some viruses like measles are pretty stable and don't change much over time. Influenza and SARS are highly mutatable, se we approach them differently. I really don't understand your reference to mind games. This is just science and biology.

Absolutely not trying to be awkward. I just don't see how boosting and boosting and so on helps.

I had 2 and will leave it at that.

I've been deleting a lot from my phone and it brings back memories of the absolute madness of that time.

Some more facts:

The number of Covid hospital admissions in the first half of the year was tiny, fewer than 10 admissions per 1 million population with fewer than 2 deaths per million.

Peak number of cases reported was in April with 1331 cases.

Overall COVID-19 case rates and positivity were highest among those aged 85 and over.

By the end of the COVID-19 spring 2025 vaccination campaign …

• only 58.1% of all people aged 75 to 79,
• only 61.8% of all people aged 80 and over, and
• only 24.5% of all people aged under 65 years and in a clinical risk group,

… who are resident in England had been vaccinated with a spring 2025 booster dose.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/epidemiology-of-covid-19-in-england/epidemiology-of-covid-19-in-england-january-to-june-2025

So there are around 40% of people aged over 74 not bothering to be vaccinated.

Around 10,000 people die each week in England & Wales - 600,000 a year.

Latest dashboard figures show only 100 deaths (week to 3 October) where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate - which only means the infection was present but not necessarily the prime cause of death.

ukhsa-dashboard.data.gov.uk/respiratory-viruses/covid-19

Husband and I are both 65 and have always qualified for the booster ( both disabled , both blue badge , both pip etc )
This year we don't quality inspite of being in the band that was told by the government / Drs surgery to isolate and even received food parcels .
We both decided to pay for private covid jabs at a cost of 2 x £80 when we had our flu ones .

Stripey, as I said it is constantly mutating, that means it's a slightly different virus, hence the need for evolving vaccines to match it. Some viruses like measles are pretty stable and don't change much over time. Influenza and SARS are highly mutatable, se we approach them differently. I really don't understand your reference to mind games. This is just science and biology.

IOMGran

ReadyMeals

Apparently we've all been exposed to it now, either from infection or from a jab, and in most people it's just like a normal cold as our immune systems are no longer naive to it.

It's a SARs virus, it's nothing like a rhinovirus. It's also constantly mutating, so our immunity doesn't last. It's been 5 years now and people fail to understand the basics.

But can we just keep on and on putting something in there to keep it at bay?
Or is it some sort of mind games? (I don't mean crazy conspiracy theories)

I am 84 years of age have had the covid injection and the flu injection, reside in Wales. All my chums from aged 70 have been invited for the jab
.

Having had covid 6 times now I'm unhappy that I can't have the vaccine this year having had every vaccine I was offered over the years. I suspect my immune system is weakened but I don't fit any of the listed categories. During the pandemic my employer refused to let me volunteer to work with key workers' children in school as they considered me vulnerable. I was close to retirement and diabetic. I felt unhappy that my colleagues were allowed to work on a rota but they said I couldn't.
I spent Christmas alone last year as I caught covid the week before and could not travel to stay with family as planned. I just hope it won't happen again this year. I can't afford to pay for the vaccine privately.

One thing I find odd is that those of us who are younger and therefore likely to be at less risk, still get the flu vaccine. I am asthmatic so have been offered the flu jab since my 50s, but have not flu since my teens. It is usually the very elderly frail and immuno-compromised at risk from flu.

As an over 70 year old asthmatic, I was quite unwell from covid last year and have no wish to feel worse than that this year, but I am not eligible.

You can pay and get the vaccine, Boots and other chemists offer them,🤧😷

Robin202 I have zero interest in anything those cranks have to say. I prefer peer reviewed medical papers thanks, not washed yup politicians and hacks.

ReadyMeals

Apparently we've all been exposed to it now, either from infection or from a jab, and in most people it's just like a normal cold as our immune systems are no longer naive to it.

It's a SARs virus, it's nothing like a rhinovirus. It's also constantly mutating, so our immunity doesn't last. It's been 5 years now and people fail to understand the basics.

Those who are panicking about not getting a free covid shot - how many of you have had covid several tines AND been vaccinated? It appears that those who’ve had multiple boosters are the ones catching it.
How many of you are reading alternative reports of the awful and sometimes life changing damage these shots have caused - first hand personal experiences of those badly affected?
The heart conditions: Myocarditis, Strokes, turbo cancer diagnosis. I know of 4 people affected. Here’s a snippet of the mass of information out there for those interested. For those who dont take the freebie, you may have done yourself a favour.

x.com/abridgen/status/1974878487535341978?s=46&t=lp3hCfirSI0YcmZzXIBZIA

x.com/jacquideevoy1/status/1974376197762248982?s=46&t=lp3hCfirSI0YcmZzXIBZIA

x.com/liz_churchill10/status/1906175096361750853?s=46&t=lp3hCfirSI0YcmZzXIBZIA

x.com/draseemmalhotra/status/1866485957618217280?s=46&t=lp3hCfirSI0YcmZzXIBZIA

PaynesGrey

IOMGran

QuotePaynesGrey the actual cost of the vaccine to the NHS is £25. I looked it up.

You are not quoting me as I didn't say that. I have no idea what the vaccine costs and neither did the JCVI when they gave their advice - which they make clear in the paper I linked to.

If you know the cost of the vaccine then please provide your source.

There you go. That's what we're worth.
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.08.24316972v3

Apparently we've all been exposed to it now, either from infection or from a jab, and in most people it's just like a normal cold as our immune systems are no longer naive to it.

@Goldenage I'd be interested in your figures - the 'large number of people'? I have found this paper which suggests globally, from the literature that 55 people died after the covid vaccine, not all can be directly attributed to the covid vaccine, and their conclusion is "Given the small number of severe adverse reactions and deaths reported, it is beyond doubt that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks. "
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8875435/

GoldenAge it is not a gene therapy. It's an mRNA vaccine that uses mRNA to instruct your own cells ribosomes to produce antigen proteins. Stop spreading misinformation please.

I felt cross as tho only 73 I had major surgery and life threatening sepsis and asthmatic and diabetic and actually given an appointment for flu and covid jab on the 14 th October . I got there and declined the covid jab as too young. Why give me am app tent then ? Apparently the rules suddenly changed .

I think it's a terrible shame that we can't have it. I had Covid really badly and I never never want it again.

Apparently pharmacists and their workers have been on the receiving end of a lot of abuse from people under 75 who really need this vaccination.

Another example of a short sighted government.

Can we just keep on vaccinating and boosting though?

Please can one of the contributors who call the covid jab “gene therapy “ explain what they mean. Thank you

I am a 69 year old GP , working on the front line with patients coughing all over me all the time.Some have already certainly had COVID.
I have asthma and had a bad winter last year with my chest despite the vaccines.
I am not eligible for the COVID vaccine either and I am not even allowed a sneaky left over one ( which is likely to be wasted !) I am quite cross and upset about this , on behalf of myself and everyone else in the same age group.
I have no idea who decided this . I think it's awful.
I am seriously considering spending the money on a private vaccination.

Angelafeet

PaynesGrey. Thank you for the info. I was led through lockdown and the rest pandemic by the scientists and will continue to do so. I will not listen to old wives and scaremongers. So if they advice 75+ so be it

Thank you. These are not politicians providing epidemiology-based advice, they are esteemed experts who have considered the data.

The Covid sub-committee of the JCVI are:

Sub-committee chair: Professor Wei Shen Lim KBE (Nottingham University Hospitals).

He is consultant respiratory physician and honorary professor of medicine at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust

Sub-committee members:

Professor Eleanor Barnes (University of Oxford)
Professor Jeremy Brown (University College London Hospitals)
Dr Kevin Brown (retired, UK Health Security Agency)
Dr Rebecca Cordery (UK Health Security Agency)
Professor Paul Heath (St George’s, University of London)
Mr Chris Hughes OBE (Lay Member of Ethics and Scientific Committees)
Professor Matt Keeling OBE (University of Warwick)
Professor Simon Kroll (Imperial College London)
Dr Jonathan Leach OBE (Davenal House Surgery)
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard (University of Oxford)
Professor Maarten Postma (University of Groningen)
Professor Maheshi Ramasamy (University of Oxford)
Professor Chris Robertson (University of Strathclyde)
Professor Derek Smith (University of Cambridge)
Professor Caroline Trotter (University of Cambridge)
Dr Martin Williams (University Hospitals Bristol)

The minutes of JCVI meetings are a matter of public record.

Point 87 of the linked minutes explains why there has been a change of policy from last autumn to this.

DHSC had approved treating vaccine costs as ‘sunk costs’ for the autumn 2024 campaign on the basis that there were no alternative uses for the pre-procured doses and no impact on additional future purchase.

app.box.com/s/9tifbhldibpbsg9b0h2qddvam4bue1kf/file/1632520521049

IOMGran

QuotePaynesGrey the actual cost of the vaccine to the NHS is £25. I looked it up.

You are not quoting me as I didn't say that. I have no idea what the vaccine costs and neither did the JCVI when they gave their advice - which they make clear in the paper I linked to.

If you know the cost of the vaccine then please provide your source.

As someone who is lucky enough to be in the care of the NHS since it's inauguration, I think they do a wonderful job with shrinking resources. I have had every COVID and Flu jab, have never contracted the former and last had the latter over 50 years ago. Vaccines are expensive, go on holiday to a far reaching destination and your necessary clutch of protection can run into hundreds, but we pay it without a squeak.