No drop-off in Covid vaccinations as younger adults get jabbed

Younger adults are joining Britain’s national effort to “see this pandemic off” by getting the Covid-19 jab, a leading vaccine expert has said.

Professor Adam Finn, of the Bristol Children’s Vaccine Centre and a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said there had not been a sizeable “drop-off” in people having the jab as the roll-out has gone down through the age groups.

People aged 38 and 39 can now also book a vaccine.

“People’s behaviour is to some extent influenced by what everyone else is doing and there is a very strong sense in the UK at the moment that everybody wants to be part of this to be contributing to the effort and to seeing this pandemic off,” Prof Finn told BBC Breakfast.

“So, I’m optimistic that just as so far as we have come down through the age bands, there hasn’t really been very much of a drop-off in coverage that we may be able to continue with that and get really good coverage all the way down to 18.”

Figures to May 6, show nearly three quarters of adults in England aged 45 to 49 had had a first dose jab, 89.5 per cent of 50-54, 98 per cent of 60-64, and 95 per cent for the 80+ age group.

Prof Finn explained further: “So far it’s really gone very well.

“One would extrapolate from what’s happened so far, to conclude that people will continue to want to come forward and be immunised.

“But of course the personal incentive to get immunised is somewhat lower as you get younger because the chances of you getting seriously ill with Covid is somewhat less.

“Nevertheless some people do get sick and some people get long Covid and there’s a good reason for wanting to be protected, as well as being part of the broader effort to bring the pandemic under control.

“So, we are all optimistic actually that the programme will continue to roll forward as successfully as it has done so far.”

Children aged 12 to 15 are now able to get immunised in America, however, Prof Finn said this may not be necessary in the UK.

Currently no vaccines have been authorised by the regulator for use by children in Britain.

“It’s an open question as to whether or not we will really need to do that at this point,” he said.

“If we can get really good coverage and a high uptake in the adult population, like Israel, we may find that you see a disappearance of Covid throughout the whole population even without immunising children.”

However, he added that it may prove necessary, particularly for teenagers, and this could depend partly on whether the disease is spreading in secondary schools.

He also warned that one of the Indian coronavirus variants was being “watched really carefully” amid concerns that it spreads faster than the Kent mutation of the virus.

“This variant is popping up in a number of places, presumably having been imported from India,” he added.

“The numbers are still relatively small so it’s hard to be sure about that but it’s definitely an area for close observation.”

* The NHS has launched a mobile walk-in vaccination service using St John Ambulance volunteers and vehicles in South East London.

The service, which will visit libraries, supermarkets and other venues, is aimed at providing convenient vaccination to communities with the lowest rates of vaccination uptake.

Dr Nancy Küchemann, Southwark GP and member of NHS South East London Clinical Commissioning Group’s Governing Body, said: “We are delighted to have St John Ambulance helping to deliver the NHS Covid-19 vaccination programme in Southwark and across south east London.”

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