{"id":118171,"date":"2021-09-15T16:57:35","date_gmt":"2021-09-15T23:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=118171"},"modified":"2021-09-15T16:57:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-15T23:57:35","slug":"covid-people-are-vaccinated-so-why-are-there-so-many-cases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/09\/15\/covid-people-are-vaccinated-so-why-are-there-so-many-cases\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid: People are vaccinated &#8211; so why are there so many cases?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><em>By Philippa Roxby Health reporter Courtesy BBC<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n<p><strong>More than four out of five UK adults have now had two jabs, but reported daily Covid cases remain high.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, it&#8217;s been confirmed that millions of people will get booster vaccines &#8211; while children aged 12-15 will be offered single doses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why are infections still high when so many are vaccinated?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The vaccines are designed to protect people against becoming seriously ill or dying from Covid-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They&#8217;re less effective at stopping people becoming infected by the virus, developing mild symptoms or passing it on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the vaccine does still reduce the likelihood of these things happening, it might only stop half of infected people from transmitting the virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if 100% of people in the UK were double vaccinated, the virus would still spread &#8211; but the key difference is that far fewer people would become seriously ill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do vaccines prevent hospitalisation and death?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>They strongly prevent vaccinated people from getting Covid symptoms &#8211; and are even better at stopping people from ending up in hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But effectiveness also depends on how well each vaccine works against individual variants. The most common variant in the UK today&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/health-55659820\">is Delta<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Public Health England (PHE) studies suggest having two vaccine doses protect 80% of people against getting symptoms from the Delta variant. That&#8217;s lower than the Alpha variant (89%), because Delta is more infectious. The PHE also found:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Vaccines are 96% effective at preventing hospitalisation<\/li><li>Covid deaths in the double-jabbed are four times lower than in the unvaccinated<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>But there will always be some deaths, particularly in the oldest and most vulnerable, because vaccines aren&#8217;t perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Having two doses remains the best way to protect yourself. After four or five months,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/health-58257863\">a large study suggests you have the same amount of protection whether you had AstraZeneca or Pfizer<\/a>. Researchers don&#8217;t yet have enough data to compare the Moderna jab, but believe it is &#8220;almost certainly at least as good as the others&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-51768274\">Some 44 million people in the UK<\/a>, about 81% of people aged 16 and over, have now had their second jab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/health-58545548\">Covid deaths rare among fully vaccinated &#8211; ONS<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who will be offered third jabs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Across the UK, single booster jabs will be offered to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Over-50s<\/li><li>Frontline health and social care workers<\/li><li>Older adults in residential care homes<\/li><li>People aged 16-49 years old with underlying health conditions which put them at greater risk of severe Covid<\/li><li>Adults who share a household with vulnerable people<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The doses will be offered at least six months after a second vaccination, and are likely to be either Pfizer or Moderna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>England&#8217;s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Jonathan Van-Tam, says people should also take a flu jab if it is offered alongside the booster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/health-53847025\">How can I get a flu jab?<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Which children will now be offered the vaccine?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All four UK governments have also confirmed healthy over-12s will be offered a single Covid jab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/health-58547659\">UK&#8217;s chief medical officers argue vaccinating this group will help limit school disruption<\/a>&nbsp;if Covid spreads during the winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There is no vaccine currently approved for use in the under-12s in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Already, young people&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-58216017\">aged 16 and 17<\/a>&nbsp;are being offered one dose, with the intention of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/jcvi-issues-updated-advice-on-covid-19-vaccination-of-young-people-aged-16-to-17\">a second at a later date<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The vaccine is also available for over-12s with underlying health conditions, or those living with others at high risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/health-57888429\">Will children&#8217;s Covid jabs be compulsory?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/health-58423152\">What difference will jabbing young teens make?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/health-58516207\">Vaccinating children &#8211; how the UK compares<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How do I get a vaccine?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<strong>England,&nbsp;<\/strong>adults and those within three months of turning 18 can book a jab&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/conditions\/coronavirus-covid-19\/\">online<\/a>&nbsp;or by calling 119. You can also visit a walk-in clinic without an appointment. All 16 and 17-year-olds are asked to make an appointment through their GP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In<strong>&nbsp;Scotland,&nbsp;<\/strong>over-16s can&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhsinform.scot\/vaccineregistration\">register to get the vaccine on the NHS inform website<\/a>&nbsp;or by calling 0800 030 8013. Most health boards also have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.scot\/news\/drop-in-vaccine-clinics-in-every-mainland-health-board\/#:~:text=All%20mainland%20health%20boards%20will,have%20passed%20%2D%20their%20second%20dose.\">drop-in vaccination clinics<\/a>. Over-12s can go to drop-in clinics from Monday 20 September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In<strong>&nbsp;Wales<\/strong>, adults should&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/gov.wales\/get-your-covid-19-vaccination-if-you-think-you-have-been-missed\">contact their local health board<\/a>&nbsp;if they&#8217;ve not been offered their jab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<strong>Northern Ireland<\/strong>, you can&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/covid-19.hscni.net\/get-vaccinated\/\">book online<\/a>&nbsp;or call 0300 200 7813. Walk-in centres are open to older teenagers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How soon should I get my second jab?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<strong>England<\/strong>, the recommended gap between first and second jabs is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/conditions\/coronavirus-covid-19\/coronavirus-vaccination\/coronavirus-vaccine\/\">between 8-12 weeks<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<strong>Wales<\/strong>, the government says you should be called in for your second dose&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/gov.wales\/get-your-covid-19-vaccine\">&#8220;within 12 weeks&#8221; of the first<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<strong>Scotland&nbsp;<\/strong>and&nbsp;<strong>Northern Ireland<\/strong>&nbsp;the recommended gap is eight weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Philippa Roxby Health reporter Courtesy BBC More than four out of five UK adults have now had two jabs, but reported daily Covid cases remain high. Meanwhile, it&#8217;s been confirmed that millions of people will get booster vaccines &#8211; while children aged 12-15 will be offered single doses. Why are infections still high when [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}