Boosters

funkyzeit100

My respect for Luke o Neil fell off a cliff after I saw him on rte last year.

After an "expose" with an Irish reporter in China, detailing the level of lies being peddled by the Chinese, to the extent of reporters being asked to leave the country, o Neil sits back and states something to the effect of "it's crazy, I suppose we'll never know where this virus comes from."

Incredible.

There is what people say in public to support current regimes and policies, and you find out quick that it often bears little resemblance to what is said in private.

He's a politicians aide, using his scientific credentials to add credence to policies. And nothing more.

Separately, relying on pharmaceutical companies now to release/create a once off cure, when they have a nice little earner forever in the form of boosters, makes little financial sense. And you know how it goes with financial incentive above all else.

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118220857#Comment_118220857

Mr Varadkar said he had "profound concern" for people who got the single-shot Janssen vaccine and said he hopes to have a positive decision on giving these people an mRNA dose soon.

"Profound concern" over a single study involving just over one hundred men with and average age of 61, the majority of which had underlying conditions, a third were diabetic, over half were obese and over half had been hospitalised at least once in the previous year for other health problems? Hardly a representative group, unless your study criteria was fat Americans whose health is so fcuked they need their local hospital on speed dial. There are a raft of other studies involving hundreds of thousands of subject(nearly half a million in one) over an eight month timeframe from the first human trials to the end of summer this year which demonstrated a durable protective effect against severe disease and death, including those exposed to the delta variant. They did show a drop in antibodies, but an increase in immune memory cells in that period.

And Varadkar is profoundly concerned? And of course the only option is mRNA. He presided over and listened to experts who claimed masks were of no use except when they magically worked in some circumstances and then became essential of course, again magically, who said it was grand to visit elderly relatives in care homes when we were watching elderly Italians dying like flies on every news bulletin, who wheeled out other experts going on about handwashing to OCD levels while stating the infected were fine until they were asymptomatic. And now he's part of a coalition who claim schools are magically free of transmission and the covid virus carries a watch on one of its spike proteins that means it won't infect anyone before midnight in a pub. GTFO Leo you utter fearmongering chancer.

Dayor Knight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118220806#Comment_118220806

Especially if they're dead.

SchrodingersCat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118221301#Comment_118221301

Has that not changed?- Numerous studies have shown that the Janssens effectiveness decreases considerably over time.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/health/clarification-sought-on-boosters-for-janssen-covid-19-vaccine-recipients-1.4732377

As a result, the Chief Medical Officer and HSE have recommended that they get the booster after just three months, compared to five for the others:

https://www.hse.ie/eng/health/immunisation/hcpinfo/covid19vaccineinfo4hps/c19booster/boosterpatientinfo.pdf

Since the majority of those who received the Janssen vaccine was back in Spring/Summer, they are eligible for the booster now, not January.

https://www.newstalk.com/news/janssen-vaccine-niac-says-boosters-can-be-given-after-three-months-1279174

There is a legitimate concern that the Janssen vaccinated should get their boosters as soon as possible. They are recommending mRNA vaccines as the booster too, since that looks to be more effective.

France has just approved Boosters for all adults after 5 months

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118222508#Comment_118222508

Eligibility currently has nothing to do with it, we're doing the over 60s and HCWs, two groups more at risk than the J&J recipients. It's not going to happen with the over 50s until January at least so the comment is really of no use to anyone until then.

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118222651#Comment_118222651

Their choice but such a waste of time, vaccines and money. So much for any hint of solidarity for those in need.

Heighway61

Haven't been following things very closely recently. Heard Donnelly quoted today as saying all immunocompromised should have had or been offered their booster vaccine by now. Is this correct? I'm immunocompromised and had my second dose at the end of May but no word yet on booster.

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118222889#Comment_118222889

You should probably check with your GP as Donnelly can often be premature on information and he imagines what he thinks reality is.

SchrodingersCat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118222681#Comment_118222681

I understand now the point you are making: Its not an issue of eligibility, but of capability.

The janssen vaccinated are eligible for their boosters now, but we dont have the capability to give it (yet).

Yes, this is a pretty bad position to be in. Still, the government should be allowed to voice their concern over this issue, assuming, we would hope, that they are working towards alleviating it.

Heighway61

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118222910#Comment_118222910

Hospital handled things last time. I just got a phone call. Back in on Tuesday for a regular appointment, will ask then.

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118222989#Comment_118222989

Sounds good and do ignore Donnelly!

is_that_so

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118222931#Comment_118222931

It's a numbers game, we are now up to about 185K a week, with 250K supposedly not far away. That should take care of the most of the groups being done now, by the end of the year.

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118222508#Comment_118222508

Has that not changed?- Numerous studies have shown that the Janssens effectiveness decreases considerably over time.

No. The Times says numerous, the reality is one. One that as I noted earlier involved: just over one hundred men with and average age of 61, the majority of which had underlying conditions, a third were diabetic, over half were obese and over half had been hospitalised at least once in the previous year for other health problems? Hardly a representative group, unless your study criteria was fat Americans whose health is so fcuked they need their local hospital on speed dial. There are a raft of other studies involving hundreds of thousands of subject(nearly half a million in one) over an eight month timeframe from the first human trials to the end of summer this year which demonstrated a durable protective effect against severe disease and death, including those exposed to the delta variant.

Oh and that one study was over four months not the eight the Times said. They're getting their wires crossed all over the place, or more likely didn't read the actual bloody study or studies and just copy pasted from the wires, or from the HSE missive on the matter. The same paper was peddling the HSE ballsology over masks being useless, until they magically weren't and became compulsory in close indoors environments. And then go on to say: Protection against death was higher for Janssen, at 52.5 per cent after eight months. Which kinda contradicts all that they wrote before. "Journalists".

Oh and the whole booster thing came along on the back not of the J&J, but the Pfizer showing drop offs in nations like Israel.

Then NIAC come out with this: It is essential that all recommended public health and social measures to limit Covid-19 exposure are observed. Booster doses will not immediately contribute to outbreak management nor take the place of public health and social measures,” it said.

Game ball. Yet schools are open and magically innocent of increasing transmission, as are pubs which are also innocent of increasing transmission. Well, before midnight, in the wee hours all hell would break loose. Apparently. Because clearly the virus has learned to tell the time. Magically. You could not make this nonsense up.

God forbid they'd actually be honest. EG with the masks thing it was about keeping stocks of PPE in play for healthcare folks. But no, spread clearly contradictory information that anyone with two brain cells to rub together could see was BS. Same with the schools and hospitality industry. I'd have a lot more respect for these government eejits if they came out and said "well we know there are clear risks with schools and pubs and the like, but we're looking to the mid and longterm re the economy and the mental and emotional health of our children and wider society so are willing to take that risk as hospitalisations look stable enough at the moment. If it goes nuts we'll revisit things. The vintners have been giving us static too". That would be honest. Then again our political class have shown a long standing immunity to being honest and bullshítitis is endemic in that demographic. No known cure.

Then we have Holahan: Chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has endorsed Niac’s recommendations in a letter to Mr Donnelly. “There are currently no data on the long-term effectiveness of booster doses, so it remains unclear how long the benefit of boosters may persist, or the magnitude of the effect boosters have on transmission of the virus,” he says in the letter. AKA fcuked if I know, but boosters sound good, better cover my bases.

I'll happily get a booster, a second dose of J&J, not the mRNA. If that choice(and one I'm willing to pay for BTW) is not open to me they can jog on.

Tony H

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118220837#Comment_118220837

to be honest I would have no problem taking another booter , I have been taking vaccines since I was quite young and never had a problem so far , my mother grew up when polio and TB ravaged the world and would describe how bad it was then , vaccines then gave people a chance at a normal life ,

Im no expert but I think I'm giving myself the best chance of surviving this scourge .

pjcb

is the pfizer booster everybody is going to get now the exact same vaccine that we were given before or have pfizer changed it?

Wolf359f

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118225652#Comment_118225652

Exact same for Pfizer and for moderna boosters is the same only it's a half dose.

namloc1980

Boosters for everyone over 16 approved.

https://www.rte.ie/news/coronavirus/2021/1126/1263274-coronavirus-ireland-latest/

vienne86

I got my booster this morning. 60-69 cohort and over 5 months since dose#2. I'd no appointment, just rocked up to a vaccination centre which wasn't advertised as accepting walk ins. Delighted to get it done.

SchrodingersCat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118225925#Comment_118225925

Big news.

If you got Pfizer or Moderna, you can get the booster after five months. They have followed the advice of NIAC, CMO and others and have reduced the time to three months for the Janssen. Since the majority of those who received this vaccine was back in Spring/Summer, they can get the booster now.

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/health/boosters-for-all-third-covid-vaccine-dose-to-be-offered-to-everyone-over-16-41091295.html

airy fairy

Can anyone who got a Janssen vaccine, and is 3 months post vaccine, rock up to a vaccination centre now and get a booster? Or will it still be by age?

I'd guess a lot of students would be in this cohort of people and those on the 50+ too. The message should be clear and get it done asap.

The 40 to 49 group were done late June early July ? So will they not get called in January latest? I hope that they ramp up the ages again like during the summer.

SchrodingersCat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118227079#Comment_118227079

Yes, that is changed now. If you got the Janssen, and its over three (not five) months since your jab, you are eligible for the booster. There are no age coherts like the Pfizer/mRNA vaccinated. To quote:

In the case of those 16- 39-year-olds who received a Janssen vaccine as their primary vaccine, they can be offered a booster dose irrespective of their age after a minimum three-month interval.

Cian59

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118227079#Comment_118227079

Interested in this. Like is this NIAC advice only or will the HSE put it into operation?

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118226842#Comment_118226842

They have followed the advice of NIAC, CMO and others and have reduced the time to three months for the Janssen.

On the basis of a single incredibly limited study(which was acknowldeged by the authors and others like the CDC) of 116 people, men, average age 61, over half obese with comorbidities that required at least one non related covid hospitalisation in the past year. Yet only a few months ago in August.. In phase 2 studies(phase one had over half a million subjects and showed a similar protective effect*) they found:

We have established that a single shot of our COVID-19 vaccine generates strong and robust immune responses that are durable and persistent through eight months. With these new data, we also see that a booster dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine further increases antibody responses among study participants who had previously received our vaccine,"

However the best results for boosters of that vaccine were not at three months: "We look forward to discussing with public health officials a potential strategy for our Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine, boosting eight months or longer after the primary single-dose vaccination".

But no, our lot go on a deeply flawed study they seem to have read in the papers apparently causing Leo Varadker "profound concern", rather than much larger studies conducted over a longer time period and of course are pushing mRNA as the only booster option.

*Immune responses persisted through at least eight months

Data submitted by Dan Barouch, M.D., Ph.D., of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center et al., to bioRxiv from a sub-study of the Johnson & Johnson Phase 1/2a COVID-19 vaccine study (n=20) showed that humoral and cellular immune responses generated by the Johnson & Johnson single-shot COVID-19 vaccine lasted through at least eight months, the latest timepoint recorded in the study thus far. Data showed that T-cell responses – including CD8+ T-cells that seek out and destroy infected cells – persisted over the eight-month timeframe examined.

A single dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine generated neutralizing antibodies against a range of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern, which increased over time (the average neutralizing titer at eight months exceeded that average at 29 days), including against the increasingly prevalent and more transmissible Delta (B.1.617.2) variant, the partially neutralization-resistant Beta (B.1.351), the Gamma (P.1) variants and others, including the Alpha (B.1.1.7), Epsilon (B.1.429), Kappa (B.1.617.1) and D614G variants, as well as the original SARS-CoV-2 strain (WA1/2020).

Both my daughter and I got ours this morning at GP.

Me, 52, 6 months since second vaccine this week.

She, 25, 5.5 months since second vaccine, this week.

Both cohort 4. Both got "additional dose" of Pfizer.

colly10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118227120#Comment_118227120

Does "can be offered" mean you'll likely have to wait to be offered it after over 50's are done?

Do they mean they allow it to be offered but you won't be called to get it until they get through a heap of other groups or I can just turn up somewhere tomorrow and get it?

Their communication requires alot of work

SchrodingersCat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118228044#Comment_118228044

It looks like you will be able to just turn up, assuming that its 5 months since your last jab (3 months Janssen)

The walk-in clinics will be available to eligible groups once it has been at least five months since their second dose of a Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca jab in their initial vaccinations, or three months since the individual received the single Janssen vaccine.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/covid-19-4-620-confirmed-cases-with-571-in-hospital-and-118-in-icu-1.4739725

Some pharmacies (e.g Hickeys) have online booking of covid booster appointments available for healthcare workers and the 60-69 age bracket.

I imagine this will be extended to other groups soon.

colly10

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118228481#Comment_118228481

What worries me is that they also mention for the other jabs that they’re eligible after 5 but they’re still not taking them at the moment.

Hope you’re right, fingers crossed it’s all clarified in the next week or so

NSAman

Got the booster J&J on Wednesday … 1st time round awful shivers, pain in arm etc…. This time nada!