Another wave of COVID approaches with the festive season
With the festive season fast approaching, another covid wave is washing over us. So, what's the current state of play and should we be getting another booster?
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00:00 We have no idea of the case numbers because people are not getting testing done.
00:05 Also the government abandoned weekly reporting on COVID cases a few weeks ago, which we talked
00:10 about on this show.
00:12 But states are reporting increased emergency department presentations and about 35 to 50%,
00:20 depending on the state, of those presentations, people turning up in ED are actually being
00:26 admitted to hospital.
00:27 So there is a rise in hospitalisation.
00:29 So there is more COVID out there and I suspect people watching our conversation just now
00:33 all know somebody who has got COVID-19 at the moment.
00:37 You probably had to do this a bit but can you repeat for us the current recommendations
00:41 around boosters?
00:42 Well, you kind of need a degree in vaccination for this because it has changed.
00:48 So really, let's just try and simplify it.
00:52 The best way of thinking about it is that ATAGI have probably all this year landed on
00:56 the idea that for most people, all you need is one injection a year.
01:01 And that comes from Israeli data.
01:03 The Israelis have probably got the best data on this where they watch this.
01:06 And really, unless you're at risk or you're immunocompromised, you're really only coming
01:12 back into a risk situation about a year after your last vaccination.
01:15 Now earlier on this year, they really emphasised you can only get immunised if you haven't
01:20 had your immunisation or COVID-19 in the last six months.
01:24 But people don't know whether they've had COVID-19 because they're not getting tested.
01:28 So now they're saying, well, just focus on when you had your last immunisation.
01:31 So let's assume that you're healthy over the age of 18 and you've had a booster in 2023.
01:38 Unless you've got any risk factors, 2024 is probably when you're going to get your next
01:43 one.
01:44 If you are over 75, which means that you've got a compromised immune system just because
01:48 you're older, they're recommending a second booster six months after your last one.
01:54 And if you're over 65 with risk factors, also they're recommending a booster six months
01:59 after your last one.
02:00 If you're under 65 with no other risk factors, they're saying, look, no more boosters this
02:05 year.
02:06 Wait till you get our advice for next year.
02:10 And they're saying that if you're due for a booster, wait for the new one that's coming
02:14 up, which is this new monovalent vaccine.
02:16 Monovalent meaning there's only one version of the virus in it because the old virus that
02:20 started this off is not around anymore.
02:23 And it's this XBB version of Omicron, which covers a few variants that are circulating
02:28 around internationally and to some extent locally.
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