Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
NIAC HAS RECOMMDNED that people who received a Janssen Covid-19 jab should receive a booster jab three months after their initial vaccination.
This interval is shorter than the recommended interval for the other three vaccines used as part of Ireland’s rollout. Boosters for people who received Pfizer, Moderna or AstraZeneca should be delivered following an interval of a minimum of five months.
Unlike those three vaccines, the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine was delivered in a single dose. A total of 236,313 people were vaccinated with the Janssen jab in Ireland, with many 18-34 year olds among that group.
However, only people under 50 with an underlying condition have so far been approved for a booster jab.
The advice related to the recommended Janssen interval is contained in Monday’s letter from CMO Dr. Tony Holohan to the Minister for Health which confirmed that boosters were to be extended to further cohorts.
The letter outlines that the National Immunisation Advisory Council (NIAC) has now approved boosters for people aged 50-59, people aged 16-59 years with an underlying condition and all residents in long-term healthcare facilities, irrespective of age.
In the letter, the CMO says that NIAC has recommend that each of those groups receives a booster using either Pfizer or Moderna “given six months (minimum five-month interval) following completion of the primary vaccination schedule”.
“Recipients of Covid-19 vaccine Janssen as their primary vaccine should receive an mRNA booster dose after an interval of three months,” NIAC’s advice states.
Regardless of which vaccine a person previously received, people receiving a booster jab are to be given one of the two mRNA vaccines, Pfizer or Moderna.
In the letter, NIAC states that, “on a precautionary basis”, the Moderna vaccine will not be recommended for people under 30, meaning they will instead be offered the Pfizer jab.
The precaution is due to preliminary data indicating an increased frequency of the rare side effect myocarditis. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle and it has led Germany and France also recommending against its use in people aged under 30.
The booster programme is already underway in Ireland for people who are immunocompromised, healthcare workers and those over 60.
As of yesterday, a total of 481,519 booster jabs have been administered.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Waiting in line for your 56th booster shot to stop the 89th variant that comes with the 23rd wave
@Bad Bunny: thanks for typing out a meme we’ve all seen
@Brendan Harlowe: “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Came to me in the shower. I know. I know. I’m gifted.
@Brendan Harlowe: Finally some gratitude.
@Bad Bunny: Booster vaccination generates super immunity similar to the enhanced immunity elicited after vaccinating someone who previously caught the virus months earlier, this enhanced immunity protects against all variants and likely future variants, and the immunity likely lasts at least 9 months.
This super immunity is generated by spacing out the first vaccination and 3rd does by several months.
“A team co-led by Andrés Finzi, a virologist at the University of Montreal, Canada, found that people who received this regimen had SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels similar to those in people with hybrid immunity 10. These antibodies could neutralize a swathe of SARS-CoV-2 variants — as well as the virus behind the 2002–04 SARS epidemic. “We are able to bring naive people to almost the same level as previously infected and vaccinated, which is our gold standard,” says Finzi.”
10. Tauzin, A., Gong, S.Y., et al. 2021. Strong Humoral Immune Responses against SARS-CoV-2 Spike after BNT162b2 MRNA Vaccination with a 16-Week Interval between Doses.
COVID super-immunity: one of the pandemic’s great puzzles
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02795-x
@David Jordan: Jaysus you really need to get out. Every covid article your all over it like a rash
@David Jordan: when can we expect super duper immunity?
@Seosamh Ohuaine: I do have my work cut out because so many are posting misinformation.
Basically, a high uptake of the booster could end this, we might even reach herd immunity, as the vaccine strongly protects against Delta. But people think it’s no better than before and will wear off quick, so might not bother.
But the immunity provided by the booster is different, stronger and longer lasting. It has been said recently, that full vaccination should be 3 doses, so people understand that the vaccine isn’t faulty, it’s a 3 dose vaccine.
@Bad Bunny: New HPSC update came a day early this week.
Main points since last week’s update:
-48 total COVID ICU admissions
20 unvaccinated
28 with at least one dose
23 fully vaccinated
-45 COVID deaths
0 unvaccinated
45 with at least one dose
41 fully vaccinated
hpsc.ie/a-z/respirator…
@richard grace: Facts:
Between Oct 9 and Nov 6, there were a total of 237 reported COVID-19 deaths, of which 138 (58%) were fully vaccinated and 99 (42%) were unvaccinated (a few had one dose, which offers little protection against Delta).
There are 1.5 million people in Ireland over 50 and >98% are fully vaccinated (unchanged since the end July, more than 2 months before Oct 9th). There are 1.46 million fully vaccinated and 26,000 who remain unvaccinated over 50 year-olds.
Now let’s look at the death rate for vaccinated v’s unvaccinated over 50-year-olds.
138 deaths / 1.46 million fully vaccinated = 0.01%
99 deaths / 26,000 unvaccinated = 0.38%
Unvaccinated (>50) were 38 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to someone who is vaccinated.
@David Jordan: I hope you’re right David. I agree, though, many will not bother as people were sold on the vaccines being the key out of this. Now that that isn’t the case many more will not bother taking a booster.
@David Jordan: Hope you’re right David I always look for real facts figures and science. Lately not sure what to believe misinformation is ridiculous now.
@Bad Bunny: The delta variant is 2x more deadly and 4x more contagious than the virus we faced last year. It is not the same thing. And people’s immunity fails off a cliff after 6-7 months.
I worry the same thing will happen here as happened in Israel (who vaccinated before us). Only after the hospitals fill up with lots of middle-aged people will people get scared, then will we see cues for the booster shot.
Their last wave was due to waning immunity, it was ended by the booster shot.
https://www.google.com/search?channel=crow5&client=firefox-b-d&q=israel+covid
@David Jordan: just lol
@Roisin Lyons: every week? You guys really have this figured out
@David Jordan: “I do have my work cut out because so many are posting misinformation.”
Nobody with a ounce of sense is taking COVID guidance from commentators on the Journal.
At what stage do the vaccine certs “expire” if you don’t get a booster?
@Stop the Lights: You dont honestly think the government have thought of that do you.
@Stop the Lights: That is a good question.
@Stop the Lights: I suspect they will crack down when we start hitting the 5th wave in the summer
@Stop the Lights: They shouldn’t.
@Stop the Lights: 9 – 10 months, possibly longer. Also, the immunity after the booster is as strong as after vaccination but likely additionally protects against variants, including Delta. This super immunity (or hybrid immunity) is generated by spacing out the doses by several months. The same effect is seen in people who are vaccinated months after COVID infection, their antibody levels shoot up extremely high after vaccination and they could neutralize variants including Delta.
Tauzin, A., Gong, S.Y., et al. 2021. Strong Humoral Immune Responses against SARS-CoV-2 Spike after BNT162b2 MRNA Vaccination with a 16-Week Interval between Doses.
COVID super-immunity: one of the pandemic’s great puzzles
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02795-x
@Stop the Lights: Macron announced a measure like that last week in France
@Stop the Lights: The EU Digital COVID Cert can enforce a validity period, yes. It does this already for PCR Tests (72 hours) and those who have recovered from COVID-19 (180 days). It was noted by the Commission on the 31st May that the validity of the vaccine certs would be adjusted depending on “emerging scientific evidence as to the length of protection of the different vaccines”
So people will have to get 4 J&J vaccines per year in order to be protected? That’s not practical at all. The new normal is not good.
@ShaneO’Mac: what?
@ShaneO’Mac: They won’t be getting the J&J vaccine again, the booster would be Pfizer or Moderna so no won’t be getting 4 a year. I would say people who originally got this one have very little immunity at this stage and especially since Delta took over.
@ShaneO’Mac: tip for ya, Shane, the usual way this works is you read the article and THEN you write a comment. Sometimes the headline doesn’t give the whole picture.
@ShaneO’Mac: huh?
@ShaneO’Mac: say what?
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Baaaaa
@alan: humbug
@alan: hahahahaha that made me lol
This is how the media twists the narrative from the vaccines are 95% effective… Well they probably work for three months, let’s face it, it’s herd immunity or bust
12 weeks. So it’s basically the equivalent of the first dose of the other vaccines?
Maybe as this progresses we could get weekly top ups at work and have the payments come out of our wages
New HPSC update came a day early this week.
Main points since last week’s update:
-48 total COVID ICU admissions
20 unvaccinated
28 with at least one dose
23 fully vaccinated
-45 COVID deaths
0 unvaccinated
45 with at least one dose
41 fully vaccinated
hpsc.ie/a-z/respirator…
@richard grace: where on the website do you get this info?
@Declan Edward: Link here Declan. https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/surveillance/vaccinationstatusweeklyreports/
They delete last week’s records so you need to keep them & manually compare the figures yourself.
@Dave: thank you, very generous
@Dave: also this has lot of interesting data with same delay: https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-covid19/covid-19informationhub/health/covid-19deathsandcasesstatistics/
@Dave: Last time you will see breakdown between vaccinated and unvaccinated in thise hse and cso figures.. check next week. Wonder why they will stop breaking it down.. doesnt suit the narrative anymore? Stake Vaccinated people in hospital take over…
I have the booster. Will it be on my vax passport?
@Gareth Wogan: you might get a sticker if you ask nicely
so there has been data on the single shot vaccine from J+J Jansen which shows that thee efficacy drops from 85+% down to just 13.1% after 8 months – i don’t suppose our great National Public Health Emergency team will take any flak for coming out now with the need for boosters ( on November 18th) sayong the wndow needs to be shortened to 3 months – almost a full year after we started our vaccine program – Ireland spends more time self congratulating themselves about how we are amazeballs with our vax program when the truth is – if we had started boosters months and months ago we would. not be seeing these surges in hospitals now – they have to own it – their management is increasingly looking worse by the day – how come so many other countries likee the UK managed to fully reopen and ar not predicting anything like the levels of infections per thousand for next 2 months -m what makes Irland so unique – its not like we have done EVERYTHING they asked – lockdown -get vaxxed -wear masks work from home self isolate – and yet hre we are – worse than Wuhan – facing a xmas with much worse projections ? Anyone. know why ???
Why was my comment deleted about the FDA seeking 55 years to fully disclose the data that Pfizer submitted to them to gain approval for their vaccine?
It’s like a drug peddler give you the first few fixes for free then hit you when you have to have it.
have your say