People given Janssen Covid-19 vaccine should be able to 'skip the queue' for booster jabs
Vials of the Janssen single-dose Covid-19 vaccine. File Picture: PA
People who received the one-dose Janssen Covid-19 vaccine should be able to receive their booster jab immediately, regardless of their age.
Immunology expert Professor Christine Loscher said that the Janssen vaccine had now waned down to roughly 20% protection against symptomatic Covid infection.
She said that a lot of young people received the Janssen vaccine, and that they now needed to be able to skip the queue and get the booster quicker.
While “coming down the cohorts” had been sensible to date, those who received Janssen now needed to be prioritised, she urged.
"The acceleration of the booster campaign in the next 10 days is vital," Prof Loscher told .
Prof Loscher explained that the shortening of the interval time between second and third doses had come about because of studies, which indicated that allowing a shorter interval time did not lessen the efficacy of the booster.
She said there had been a three-week delay in implementing the booster campaign after it was approved by National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) and, as a result, case numbers had accelerated.
However, the booster campaign now meant there was more control.
Prof Loscher also noted that the lack of “joining up” of systems between pharmacies and GP surgeries had also negatively affected the booster campaign.
"Every effort has to be made in the next 10 days to get the maximum number of vaccines into arms,” she said.
If not, she said the current level of 11 percent of Omicron cases in the country would “climb quickly”.
As regards the Omicron variant, Prof Loscher said there was not yet enough data to indicate that the variant caused milder symptoms.
“We don’t know enough not to be concerned," she added.
New jab-free vaccine targeting Covid-19 variants being trialled in UK
Meanwhile, a trial is being launched of a new needle-free Covid-19 vaccine that could give “wide-ranging protection” against variants and future coronaviruses.
The University of Southampton has developed the new vaccine which uses a jet of air to push it through the skin rather than a needle.
Saul Faust, clinical chief investigator and director of the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility, said: “This isn’t simply ‘yet another’ coronavirus vaccine as it has both Covid-19 variants and future coronaviruses in its sights.
“This technology could give wide-ranging protection to huge numbers of people worldwide.”
While most existing Covid-19 vaccines use the sequence of the RNA for the spike protein from the first samples of the virus found in January 2020, the DIOSvax technology used for the new vaccine aims to predict how the virus could mutate, allowing it to target emerging variants.
Professor Jonathan Heeney, at the University of Cambridge who developed the vaccine with research company DIOSynVax, said: “As new variants emerge and immunity begins to wane we need newer technologies.
“It’s vital that we continue to develop new generation vaccine candidates ready to help keep us safe from the next virus threats.
“Our vaccine is innovative, both in terms of the way it primes the immune system to respond with a broader protective response to coronaviruses, and how it is delivered.
“Crucially, it is the first step towards a universal coronavirus vaccine we are developing, protecting us not just from Covid-19 variants but from future coronaviruses.”
Volunteers from the Southampton area who have had two doses of an existing vaccine but not a booster are being sought for the trial.
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