Everyone over 12 will need to get a booster vaccine, says virologist

From this weekend, a booster dose of an mRNA vaccine will be offered to all frontline healthcare workers who have completed their primary course with any Covid-19 vaccine. File Picture: AP/Alvaro Barrientos

The country has been “backed into a corner” and booster Covid-19 vaccines will soon be necessary for everyone over the age of 12, a leading virology professor has said. 

Speaking this morning, Dr Gerald Barry said he didn't see any other way of reducing case numbers. Current public health policies were not able to “keep a lid” on the number of cases, he said.

Ultimately the main reason why healthcare workers were going to receive booster vaccines was to protect them from infection so they could continue to work, they were not necessary to protect them from a serious illness.

From this weekend, a booster dose of an mRNA vaccine will be offered to all frontline healthcare workers who have completed their primary course with any Covid-19 vaccine.

"This is a good reason for a booster campaign, but one could argue that if there were better public health policies in place then such a campaign would not be necessary," he told  RTÉ Radio this morning.

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Dr Barry said that the immunity of healthcare workers who had been vaccinated last December or January, would have begun to wane during the summer, but it was only now that a booster campaign was being discussed because of the rise in cases, he said.

"If the number of cases in the community was being controlled then there would not be a need for boosters," he said.

"Simple measures such as increased antigen testing, easier access to PCR testing and a greater focus on ventilation were simple measures that could be introduced. There should be a centre for PCR testing in every town."

Dr Barry, assistant professor of virology and lecturer in the School of Veterinary Medicine at UCD, said that boosters would be required “to get us through this winter” but the country could be entering into a cycle of booster vaccinations and he was worried if the public would accept that.

He said the country should be preparing for every eventuality, rather than reacting and that there should be better policies in place to manage the problem “rather than lurching from crisis to crisis”. 

The vaccination campaign had been “sold to us” as a solution to the problem, but it was not enough, he said.