Immunologists push for increase in testing and more widespread vaccine booster rollout as new variant, XEC, emerges
Covid is on the rise in England, and experts have warned that more must be done to prevent and control infections after a “capitulation to the virus”.
Prof Danny Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College London, said those working in the field were perplexed by the current attitude to the battle against Covid, as the latest figures showed an increase in hospital admissions.
The latest data for England from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) showed that hospital admissions increased to 3.71 per 100,000 population for the week between 16 and 22 September 2024, compared with 2.56 per 100,000 the previous week.
The percentage of people with symptoms who have tested positive for Covid, based on tests at sentinel “spotter” laboratories, has also risen in the last week to 11.8% compared with 9.1% in the previous week.
Which does raise the question, if the mRNA route is a sufficient solution in the long run. IIRC coronaviruses are supposed to be much less active in mutating compared to influenza. The reason why influenze requires a new shot every year is because it is a new variation every year.
It is simply not viable to vaccinate large parts of the population every six months. And quite frankly there couldn’t be a better propaganda for anti-vaxxer than telling people to get the shot twice a year.