“Single annual system of vaccination” likely to deal with Covid-19

Welsh Government are awaiting final formal advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) that will shape how vaccination for Covid-19 is handled in the future.

Preparation for the autumn booster vaccination program is underway, which will run an extended flu jab campaign offering free vaccinations to anybody aged over 50 and to secondary school pupils.

First Minister Mark Drakeford gave details at the hopefully final pandemic 21 day review briefing: “It’s really important to get a flu jab this coming year.

“We’ve had very low levels of flu for the last couple of years, partly because of all the protections we’ve all been taking.

“But as those things reduce we are receiving reports of very high levels of flu in the southern hemisphere and we must expect that there is a risk of a high flu season here in Wales in the coming autumn and winter.”

Monitoring of flu levels in the southern hemisphere is used to predict what could happen during the northern hemisphere’s winter.

On Covid-19 vaccinations he detailed what the future could hold, he said: “We’ve seen the preliminary advice of the JCVI. It is not final advice.

“There will be a full and final version of the advice, but to me it looks as though they will advise us to move to a single annual system of vaccination – like flu vaccination – you get it once and you get it at the right time of year.

“This is likely to be an autumn and early winter program of vaccination. There is some debate still, within the JCVI on the categories of people who should be included in that vaccination program.”

It appears the debate is around how low down the age range should you go and should it be for people over 80 over 70 over 65.

The First Minister added: “We’ll wait to see where that debate finally lands and then if you do have an age cutoff.

“Let’s say and I’ve got no evidence for this, just to be clear, but they decided to go for 70, then what about people below the age of 70 who are vulnerable in some way or another? What about unpaid carers? What about other groups who in previous rounds of vaccination have been covered but not in a way that is just an age cutoff way?

“So I am expecting that we will have a vaccination campaign here in the autumn, but it will certainly cover the most elderly people in the population and I’m hoping we will have advice from the JCVI that allows us to provide vaccination for other vulnerable groups.”