Recently the Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisations (JCVI), the body responsible for recommending which vaccines are appropriate for which individuals in the U.K., decided that healthy individuals under the age of 50 should no longer be offered the Covid vaccines. This decision appears to have been made based on a multitude of factors, including the facts that the vast majority of the population have now had Covid (so no need to provide them with the immune stimulation given by the vaccines) and that Omicron variants of Covid appear to be rather less likely to result in hospitalisation, compared with prior variants.
This decision could well be considered as being long overdue – indeed, I consider it rather alarming that this seemingly evidence-based decision was made in early November, yet the JCVI only bothered getting around to telling the population about its deliberations nearly three months later. There will have been many thousands of individuals, many considerably younger than 50, who were persuaded to get their booster vaccination after early November when even the JCVI thought there was very little need for them to receive this medical product. I consider this apparent laziness in keeping the population informed to be rather dubious from a medical ethics point of view.
Furthermore, I note that even though the JCVI’s own deliberations have resulted in the conclusion that the Covid vaccines will offer the healthy young very little in the way of benefit, the report’s authors nevertheless insist on mentioning how awful it is that some in the population have not received their primary course of vaccination – an inoculation that still targets the original Wuhan strain which has effectively been extinct for over two years at this point. “Appropriate and adequate communication should be provided… to optimise update among those who are eligible but have yet to receive the offer of vaccination,” they write.
What’s worse, I’ve even seen information from the Health Minister (a qualified solicitor with a degree in history) informing people that the time available to get their shot is running out and that they need to hurry to get jabbed.
We’re changing the Covid vaccination programme for 2023 after advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination & Immunisation (JCVI).
The current autumn booster & some initial boosters end in England on 12 February so please come forward for a jab if eligible. pic.twitter.com/N6CaqLgjtb
— Steve Barclay (@SteveBarclay) January 25, 2023
Read More: The JCVI is Right to Withdraw Boosters for Under-50s, But It’s Still Spinning the Stats