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.
The reason people aren’t bothering is that we’ve gone all USA healthcare with regard to the vaccines. If you want one, find a pharmacy that will provide one and be prepared to cough up at least £40. And be sure to shop around and/or be prepared to travel because some places charge £100.
A whole lot of people don’t have even the low end of that kind of money, even if “the right thing to do” would be to make sacrifices - like, say, go cold or hungry for a couple of weeks, how hard could that be? - in order to make sure they get it. And then do the same again every six months from now until something else kills them.
And even if someone has £100 to spare, that’s a lot of money that could be spent on something other than feeling like crap for three days.
There are exemptions (i.e. free vaccines) for those over 64, the infirm, and health workers, but the rest of us can suck it, apparently.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-55045639
Amusingly, as an American, one thing that is 100% covered by my insurance is vaccines. Getting the Covid, flu, and RSV vaccines next week for free.
which makes sense because vaccines reduce healthcare costs!
Paid healthcare does exist here. We call it “private healthcare”, and there’s usually a regular subscription fee if not also insurance. I’m sure for those of us who have that, there are plans where you get vaccines thrown in as a “freebie”, but those people are probably paying more than £100 every six months for the privilege.
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Sadly thats not the case in Germany. Quite likely you wont have to pay for it, but its not official for boosters if you’re middle-aged and healthy.
It makes no sense at all for preventative medicine like vaccinations not to be 100% covered. They reduce costs in the long term, so everyone wins.