Health

No 10 concerned as 4.5 million eligible people fail to get Covid jab boosters

No 10 is increasingly worried that hospitalisations and deaths among double-vaccinated people could rise due to waning immunity as an estimated 4.5 million people have failed to get their booster shots despite being eligible.

Downing Street sources told the Guardian that the gap between those eligible and those jabbed was too wide, ranking it as their major concern ahead of the winter months.

They acknowledged more needed to be done to encourage take-up as waning immunity meant more double jabbed people could get sick and were at greater risk of dying without the extra protection of the boosters.

The UK reported 293 deaths with Covid on Tuesday – the highest level since February – although the figure included all NHS England deaths from Monday owing to reporting delays. There were 33,865 daily reported cases, a drop from more than 40,000 in recent days, and 9,538 people were in hospital with Covid on Monday compared with 6,467 a month ago.

A record 1.6m boosters were delivered last week, with 7m in England since the programme started and hundreds of thousands of people booked in to receive jabs, according to NHS England. However, there are 11.5 million people eligible for their boosters, leaving a gap of 4.5 million.

John Roberts, from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, told the BBC on Tuesday expressed worries that not all those in priority groups will have had their third jabs before Christmas.

Multiple studies suggest waning immunity from vaccines. Data from Israel, where 78% of people aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated, showed a large rise in infection rates over the summer. The UK-based Zoe Covid Study app, where users can log their jabs, test results and symptoms, has suggested protection against infection after two shots of Pfizer/BioNTech decreased from 88% at one month to 74% at five to six months, while protection against infection after two Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs fell from 77% to 67% at four to five months.

Prof Tim Spector, the lead scientist on the study, said in August: “In my opinion, a reasonable worst-case scenario could see protection below 50% for the elderly and healthcare workers by winter.” A Danish study suggested the under-65s had about 80% protection for at least six months, while the over-65s had only 47% protection.

The government is pinning its hopes of avoiding further restrictions over the winter on people taking up booster jabs, which are currently offered to over-50s and those with clinical vulnerabilities who had their second jab at least six months ago. Hundreds of walk-in clinics have opened up as part of an NHS campaign.

Boris Johnson spoke about the need for people to realise the risks of not having their boosters over the weekend, saying it would be “tragic” if vulnerable people got seriously ill because they were “overconfident about their level of immunity and didn’t get their booster when they needed it”. “I think people don’t quite realise that the first two jabs do start to wane,” he said.

Roberts, from the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, said that he was concerned that the first priority groups will not all have received their Covid booster jabs by Christmas, warning that this could start to filter through into hospitalisation and death numbers in the next few days. “My worry is that, at the current rate, we’re still not going to complete the first priority groups one to nine until mid-January,” he told BBC Radio 4.

“And that’s going to mean that there’s going to be a lot of mixing over Christmas with festive behaviour before and then on the day of people who haven’t got that extra protection from the booster, which really does make a huge difference. The analysis that we’re getting from Israel is that it will probably reduce deaths by 80 or 90% even. So it’s important that we get on with it as quickly as possible.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “It is vital people come forward as quickly as possible – there are appointments available across the country and people can book in through the national booking service or use one of the hundreds of walk-in vaccination sites.”

Health

WHO Demands Fresh Data from China amid Outbreak of Pneumonia in Children

The World Health Organization (WHO) is requesting more data from China amid an outbreak of pneumonia in children.

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO epidemiologist, said the agency was ‘following up with China’ as hospitals across the country continue to be overwhelmed.

Face masks and social distancing are again being recommended in the country.

The country is said to be grappling with a spike in pneumonia, dubbed ‘white lung syndrome’ because of the way lung damage shows up on scans, among children that has been attributed to a rebound in respiratory illnesses rather than an entirely new virus.

China had one of the most brutal and longest lockdowns of any country in the world which the WHO says robbed children of vital immunity against seasonal illnesses.

Dr Van Kerkhove told the conference today: ‘Yes, we are seeing an increase in respiratory infections around the world.

‘We’re in autumn and entering winter months, so we are expecting to see rises in respiratory infections regardless.

We are following up with China. They are seeing an increase due a number of different infections

We are following up with our clinical network and following up with clinicians in China.

‘In terms of acute respiratory infections, we are looking at the burden on healthcare systems and looking at the healthcare capacities of systems.’

It comes after Chinese Health Ministry spokesman Mi Feng urged people in the country to again consider wearing face masks and distancing.

Speaking at a press conference on Sunday, he said: ‘Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours and increase the supply of medicines.

‘It is necessary to do a good job in epidemic prevention and control in key crowded places.

‘[This includes] in schools, childcare institutions and nursing homes, and to reduce the flow of people and visits.’

Health

433 Foreign-Trained Doctors Fail MDCN Qualifying Exams

No fewer than 433 out of the 836 foreign-trained medical graduates who sat the qualifying examination organised by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) failed

The qualifying examination was held at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital between 22 and 23 November 2023.

The assessment for the foreign-trained medical graduates was in a Computer Based Test format with the graduates taking the examination in four different centres, namely: BMG Institute of Information Technology; JAMB Professional Test Centre; Kano Cooperative CBT Centre and Treztech, all in Kano State.

The examination comprises a computer-based test, a picture-based test, and an objective structural clinical examination.

Findings showed that most of the medical and dental graduates performed poorly in the CBT.

A list of shortlisted candidates in Abuja showed that a total of 836 candidates with medical degrees from foreign universities were selected for the examination initially. However, only 403 candidates passed, according to the results obtained on Monday.

Every year, thousands of Nigerians aspiring to become medical doctors and dentists enrol in foreign universities, spend a fortune on tuition and accommodation fees, and dedicate between four and seven years to pursuing the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery course.

Among the favourite destinations for Nigerians studying medicine are Ukraine, Sudan, Cyprus, Egypt, The Caribbean, Russia, Belarus, India, Hungary, Guyana, Niger Republic, and Benin Republic. But on completion of their studies abroad, to get a licence to practise in Nigeria, they are required to pass the MDCN assessment.

The MDCN is the body that regulates the practice of Medicine, Dentistry, and Alternative Medicine in the country to safeguard the nation’s health care system.

The MDCN conducts the assessment twice a year.

The examination tests the candidates’ ability to apply their basic medical sciences and clinical skills in a healthcare setting.

Health

UK Confirms Never- Seen- Before Strain Of Swine Flu in Human

The UK’s first human case of swine flu strain H1N2, very similar to what has been circulating in pigs, has been detected, the UK Health Security Agency said on Monday.

Routine surveillance in general practitioner surgeries picked up the case after the person suffered a mild illness.

The UKHSA said it is now carrying out contact tracing to prevent further spread of the virus.

It is not known at this stage how transmissible the strain is or if there could be other cases in the UK.

It is also too early to say if the strain could have pandemic potential.

The UKHSA has notified the World Health Organisation of the latest case.

There have been about 50 reported human cases worldwide of the H1N2 virus since 2005, none of them related genetically to this strain.

The person involved is not known to have worked with pigs and has fully recovered.

The case was detected as part of routine national flu surveillance undertaken by UKHSA and the Royal College of GPs, which was in place even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The patient was tested by their GP in North Yorkshire after experiencing respiratory symptoms.

The strain was identified via Polymerase Chain Reaction testing and genome sequencing.

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The UKHSA said people with respiratory symptoms should continue to follow the existing guidance, avoiding contact with other people while suffering symptoms and taking particular care around vulnerable people and the elderly.

It said it was “monitoring the situation closely and is taking steps to increase surveillance within existing programmes involving GP surgeries and hospitals in parts of North Yorkshire.

“To assist in the detection of cases and assessment of transmission, those people who are contacted and asked to do the test are encouraged to do so.’’

Meera Chand, incident director at the UKHSA, said, “It is thanks to routine flu surveillance and genome sequencing that we have been able to detect this virus.

“This is the first time we have detected this virus in humans in the UK, though it is very similar to viruses that have been detected in pigs.

“We are working rapidly to trace close contacts and reduce any potential spread.

“In accordance with established protocols, investigations are underway to learn how the individual acquired the infection and to assess whether there are any further associated cases.’’

Chief veterinary officer, Christine Middlemiss, said, “We know that some diseases of animals can be transferred to humans, which is why high standards of animal health, welfare and biosecurity are so important.

Based on early information, the UKHSA said the strain detected in the UK differs from recent human cases of H1N2 elsewhere in the world but is similar to viruses in UK pigs.

In 2009, there was a pandemic in humans caused by flu strain H1N1, commonly referred to as swine flu.

NAN